A Recent History of NBA Players Destroying Their Fans in Games of 1-on-1

Image via Complex Original

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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*

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.

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.

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.

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.