The Phoenix Suns social media team occasionally hits players with questions to answer as they arrive at Mortgage Matchup Center. In one recent such pop quiz, they asked the fellas who they’d choose to play if they could match up against anyone one-on-one — and Dillon Brooks, for one, understood the assignment.
Oso Ighodaro got things rolling with a funny choice, selecting Stevie Mitchell, a Marquette product.
“He’s on the Houston Rockets G League team,” Oso said, “but he talks crazy.”
Kudos to Ighodaro for wanting to humble a player talking smack.
From there, Suns players mostly had similar choices for who they’d want to play against one-on-one.
Collin Gillespie, Jamaree Bouyea and Jalen Green all chose AI — Hall of Famer Allen Iverson.
Green also chose Kobe Bryant, joining Devin Booker, Jordan Goodwin, Ryan Dunn and Grayson Allen picking The Black Mamba. Dunn and Allen also threw Michael Jordan in the mix, which was center Mark Williams’ answer.
Royce O’Neale and Isaiah Livers both chose Tracy McGrady, AKA T-Mac.
Rookie center Khaman Maluach was the only player aside from Ighodaro with an original choice, saying he’d want to play against the late, towering 7-foot-7 center Manute Bol — another NBAer from South Sudan.
But it was Brooks who provided a straight-faced answer that’s sure to make Suns fans chuckle.
Dillon Brooks says LeBron James is his dream one-on-one matchup
In an answer that won’t surprise Suns fans, Brooks said that future Hall of Famer and current rival with the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James is his dream one-on-one matchup.
It’s no secret that Brooks has a running feud going with LBJ, so it’s safe to say that one-on-one matchup would likely get chippy. Brooks kept that rivalry going in January on a stream with Agent — a Canadian-American YouTuber and Streamer — by calling James "old." (He did also give props to prime LeBron from his Miami Heat years, so it's not all trolling.)
Rookie teammate Rasheer Fleming was the only other Suns player to say LeBron would be his dream matchup in a one-on-one setting, while also picking former Sun Kevin Durant.
While the NBA does not currently have any form of a one-on-one tournament, it’s been an All-Star Weekend pitch that might be gaining steam.
LeBron and KD are running out of years to make any of the above matchups a reality, but perhaps NBA fans will see epic one-on-one battles in a tournament format at some point in the future.