Image via Complex Original
1.
If Kobe Bryant invited you to play in a game of 1-on-1 against him, what would you say? Even if you knew that you had no chance—and that you would probably end up looking like an idiot on YouTube the next day—we're betting that you would agree to play him. Because, well, YOLO. It's not everyday that you get to step onto the court with an NBA player. And who knows? Maybe Kobe would slip or something and you would score on him. You'd be an overnight celebrity!
With that in mind, we weren't all that surprised to see a bunch of kids trying to take Kobe to the hole out in China earlier this week. But Kobe—who goes by the nickname "Black Mamba" for a reason—showed absolutely no mercy on his young opponents. And as a result, he ended up destroying each and every kid who agreed to play 1-on-1 with him. He really put on a show, at the expense of a bunch of kids who are also some of his biggest fans.
He's not the first NBA player to go toe-to-toe with his fans, though. Over the course of the last few years, we've seen quite a few NBA stars show up people who dared to challenge them to a game of 1-on-1. So after seeing what Kobe did in China, we put together A Recent History of NBA Players Destroying Their Fans in Games of 1-on-1. From LeBron James to Derrick Rose to Kobe (again and again and again!), these NBA players weren't afraid to put their own fans in their place.
2.LeBron James
Date: November 2011
Place: England
In the middle of the 2011 NBA lockout, LeBron made an appearance in London and, at one point, started showing off his jumper for the crowd. But after he missed a couple shots in a row, a young kid who was watching him shoot decided to jump into the mix to try to D up LeBron. Bad decision. LeBron responded by turning down the opportunity to shoot a J in the kid's face and instead took the ball to the basket and slammed it home.
3.Derrick Rose
Date: September 2013
Place: Japan
The guy who D-Rose squared off against here is not like most of the other "fans" that you'll see on this list. His name is Takaki Ishida and he reportedly plays professional basketball in Japan. However, judging by the jersey he wore to battle Rose, he is a fan of his. And Rose made him look like anything but a pro player by hitting him off with a variety of moves before driving to the hole and making a tricky layup. Next!
4.Kobe Bryant (Part 1)
Date: July 2009
Place: Los Angeles
Kobe destroyed some kids in China this week, but it wasn't the first time he's ever beat up on his own fans. During his annual basketball camp back in '09, Kobe asked every camper to write down a question for him so that he could answer campers' questions throughout the duration of the camp. And one 14-year-old decided to write, "When am I going to get my 1-on-1 game?" Kobe's response? "I never back down from a challenge." And he didn't. He destroyed the kid. He also managed to work a shot at LeBron James into the mix after he defeated the kid, too.
Kobe seems to enjoy beating up on his fans a little bit too much, doesn't he? Ha.
5.Chris Paul
Date: December 2011
Place: Brooklyn, N.Y.
It's impossible for most NBA point guards to slow down CP3. So what made this eighth-grader think he could do it during a basketball clinic in BK? His defensive stance looks solid and he's able to stick with the Clippers PG for about 20 seconds here. But let's be honest: CP3 was just playing with the kid. And when he decided to make his move to the bucket, the young player had absolutely no chance of stopping him.
6.John Wall
Date: August 2012
Place: Philadelphia
To be fair, high school standout Tyrek Coger didn't get completely embarrassed by the Wizards point guard after challenging him to a game of 1-on-1 at the 2012 Reebok Breakout Challenge. Coger scored a few times and even blocked Wall. But that dunk that Wall threw down at the 2:40 mark? YIKES. "This is what I do, man!" Wall yelled after he threw it down. Game. Over.
7.Dwight Howard
Date: January 2014
Place: Washington D.C.
During a rain delay before a game against the Wizards last season—yes, a rain delay before an NBA game!—the Rockets center challenged a little kid wearing a John Wall T-shirt to a game of 1-on-1. And the nice thing to do would have been to let the little kid win, right? Well, yes, but that's not what Howard did. Instead, he dunked on the kid, posted him up, and even swatted one of his shots into the crowd. This might actually be one of his best performances of last season now that we think about it. *shrugs*
8.Kobe Bryant (Part 2)
Date: July 2011
Place: Los Angeles
If you're going to talk trash to Kobe—at his own basketball camp, no less—you can expect to be treated accordingly. The kid in this clip is actually wearing a "BLACK MAMBA" T-shirt. But do you think that made Kobe feel bad about dunking all over him during a game of 1-on-1? Apparently not.
9.Michael Jordan
Date: June 2014
Place: Los Angeles
To be honest, we expected a lot more out of a game of 1-on-1 featuring MJ and a guy in a Kobe Bryant jersey. We thought Jordan would be extra motivated to destroy the Kobe fan, who attended his annual basketball camp earlier this summer. But despite the fact that MJ looked rusty, he did hit a couple of nice jumpers on the guy and, after getting off to a slow start, even hit him with the phrase, "You reach, I teach," after knocking down a J right in his grill. It's not total domination. But hey, it's the closest we're ever going to get to seeing MJ and Kobe throw down in a game of 1-on-1.
10.Brian Scalabrine
Date: January 2013
Place: Boston
Bet you didn't think you were going to see the White Mamba on this list, did you?! Early last year, Scalabrine decided that he had had enough of people making fun of his basketball skills. So he teamed up with a Boston-area radio station to hold a 1-on-1 contest that he called "Scallenge." And during it, he beat not one, not two, not three, but four different competitors in games of 1-on-1 and beat them very easily. We don't expect you to sit here and watch 30 minutes of Brian Scalabrine playing basketball—or hell, two minutes of Brian Scalabrine playing basketball—but trust us, he puts in work here and proves why he lasted more than a decade in the NBA.
11.Kobe Bryant (Part 3)
Date: July 2011
Place: Los Angeles
More Kobe? Yes, more Kobe. In December 2010, Bow Wow took to Twitter and called Kobe "average" before the Lakers played his favorite team, the Heat, on Christmas Day. So when Bow Wow challenged Kobe to a game of 1-on-1 at Kobe's youth basketball camp about seven months later and agreed to put $1000 on the game, the Black Mamba was quick to accept his challenge, even though one of the stipulations was that Kobe had to stick to shooting jumpers. He ended up being anything but "average" that day and humiliated Bow Wow on the court.
Lesson learned from all of this: Don't challenge NBA players—and specifically, Kobe Bryant!—to games of 1-on-1. You will lose…and you will end up on YouTube.