While LeBron James is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, he isn't a perfect player by any means. Plenty have criticized him for his tendency to rely on his athleticism and physicality to score points, either by beating people to the basket in transition or bullying opponents in the paint.
Even though he's the NBA's all-time leading scorer, he isn't quite as skilled a scorer as some of the NBA's other all-time titans.
Tracy McGrady, who was a great player in his own right back in the early 2000s, said on the "Makeshift Project Podcast" that James would get "crushed" if he played one-on-one against other players in the league (h/t Lakers Daily).
“I think LeBron has been amazing for 22 freaking years,” McGrady said. “And he’s been the best basketball player for, you know, God knows how long. But if you put him in one-on-one? I think he’ll get crushed. Yeah, I think he’ll get crushed — amongst guys that are actually in the NBA. And I’m sure LeBron would tell you that. Because his game is naturally built for five-on-five. He’s not a one-on-one basketball player. Kobe [Bryant] is a one-on-one basketball player. Kyrie [Irving] is a one-on-one basketball player. James Harden — these guys are one-on-one basketball players. And LeBron can’t do anything with that. So I don’t know. I just know — we always name the big-name guys, but there are some guys out there that you don’t think about, that really can play one-on-one basketball.”
While James may not be one of the greatest one-on-one players the game has ever seen, he has improved one important skill of late: his 3-point shooting.
Through the 2022-23 season, he was an average or mediocre shooter and made a modest 34.5% of his 3-point attempts for his career. But last season, he shot an outstanding 41% from that distance, and so far this season, he's at 38% on 3-point attempts.
Since the Lakers' acquisition of Luka Doncic, James has been playing off the ball more, and playing less one-on-one or isolation basketball has helped him. The hope is that it will allow him to preserve himself and possibly even extend his career a little longer, which would extend the Lakers' championship window.
In the end, a basket is a basket and a win is a win, whether it is pretty or not.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Former NBA star: LeBron James would get 'crushed' in one-on-one
