Kobe Bryant didn't seem to agree with his new little bro and teammate D'Angelo Russell when the rookie tweeted that "Tracy McGrady might have been the GOAT."  Bryant, who T-Mac considers the toughest player he ever had to guard but still denies Kobe "roasted him" in a game of 1-on-1, replied with a zzzzz emoji.

Russell then made the wise decision of tweeting a "my bad" instead of defending his statement which I'm sure would have been met with some tough future practices alongside fellow rookie and tweeter Larry Nance Jr.

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Check out the unstoppable offensive force that is Stanley Johnson of the Arizona Wildcats playing against the unstoppable offensive force of the NBA for many many years that is Tracy McGrady at this summer's Adidas Nations event.

Click here to check out more highlights from the event.

Click here to watch out min-documentary "Work" about Stanley Johnson.

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Sportsnation asked a bunch of Lakers on media day if they could beat the 36 year old Kobe Bryant in a game of one-on-one and here's how they replied.

Jordan Hill: I think so. I'll give him a try.

Jeremy Lin: I could yes, hypothetically.

Carlos Boozer: I'm whooping Kobe right now (in a joking way)

Robert Sacre: I think I can. I tried to play him but he turned me down

Steve Nash: I don't think I have a chance

Xavier Henry:  Yeah. I'm playing

Julius Randle: Yes I can beat Kobe right now

Nick Young: Deep down I think we both know who could win

Knowing Kobe Bryant, regardless of his age and whatever injury he has or is recovering from, he's going to shake his head at every one of them and do one of his typical "c'mon man" responses.

Here's a little background on Kobe when it comes to the topic of one-on-one games.

In a 2010 interview, Kobe, without hesitation, explained why he would beat LeBron one-on-one because “that’s his thing” and “at the core” of Kobe, he’s a one-on-one player and LeBron is more of a Magic Johnson type.  It was a typical cocky answer from Kobe that shouldn’t surprise anybody.

Then in 2012, Kobe again showed his confidence when it came to one-on-one challenges when Kyrie Irving challenged him.

In 2013, a 50 year old Michael Jordan was asked about playing a lot of the elite players of today in a game of one-on-one and the GOAT also said he would beat LeBron but not Kobe because Bryant "steals his moves."

That same year, during an ESPN interview, Kobe talked about specific battles with specific players such as Tracy McGrady and had this to say about McGrady.

“I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn’t even close. Ask him, he’ll tell you. When I was about 20, we were in Germany doing some promotional stuff for that other sneaker company and we played basketball every day. We were in the gym all the time. We played three games of one-on-one to 11. I won all three games. One game I won 11-2. After the third game he said he had back spasms and couldn’t play anymore.”

T-Mac denied the story by saying "LOL Hell No! That's far from the truth. No one in the NBA is playing 1 on1."

Whether or not the Germany games happened is up in the air but Kobe did tell Jimmy Kimmel that McGrady gave him the  most problems and McGrady told TMZ that Kobe was his toughest opponent and nobody else was close. 

In 2014, Phil Jackson told Fox Sports he would take Michael Jordan over Kobe in a game of one-on-one and then told a hilarious story about the time he asked Michael Jordan to talk to Kobe Byrant about the way he plays and the first thing Kobe said to Jordan was "I could kick your ass one-on-one."  Jordan's response was "You might."

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"This was my favorite game so far," said an excited Iverson after the win.

December 1999 - This game took place a few weeks before the Y2K bug was supposed to shut down the world so lucky for the 76ers they got to celebrate like Prince when they came back from a 17 point deficit to beat the dunking cousins and Raptors in this exciting game.

Iverson, in only his second game back from a broken thumb, scored 37 points, grabbed 7 boards, dished 7 assists and 1 fake-out on a cameraman (2:13 mark).

Here's how it went down according to PennyCCWai?who is the President of the Iverson fan club and keeper of all AI footage.???

Playing his second game after missing 10 with a broken thumb, Iverson scored 37 points as the 76ers used a big third quarter and held off the Toronto Raptors, 93-91.

Iverson, who scored 11 points in 21 minutes before sitting down for good midway through the third quarter in Saturday's 106-84 loss to Charlotte, made two free throws to give Philadelphia the lead for good at 83-81 with?3:56?to go. He scored 10 points in the third period, when the 76ers outscored the Raptors, 27-14.

"We needed to start playing basketball, the kind of basketball we were playing when Matt (Geiger) and I were out," said Iverson. "The first game I come back we get blown out and we were down 14 at the half. After a while you need to look in the mirror and that's what I did. That's why I changed my game in the second half to help everybody around me instead of doing it on my own."

The 6-foot Iverson, the 1997 Rookie of the Year and last season's scoring champion, shot just 13-of-34 from the field. But he also had seven rebounds and seven assists as Philadelphia defeated Toronto for the fourth time in five games.

"I thought the first half was a repeat of the Charlotte game," said Philadelphia coach Larry Brown. "We had no clue defensively, our shot selection was horrible and they got every loose ball. At halftime I talked to them and reminded them about what this team is all about. We had to stress defense first, not take the first quick shot, work the clock and grind it out."

Vince Carter, last season's Rookie of the Year, scored 19 points to lead the Raptors. Carter had a chance to give Toronto its fifth win in seven games but his jumper from the left corner hit the front of the rim as time expired.

"They came out hungry in the second half," Carter said. "They wanted to win the game and we had no energy. We need to win games. This was a big game for us and we didn't get it. We have to sit back down and evaluate where we are now and where we want to be."

Tracy McGrady, rumored to be offered to Philadelphia for guard Larry Hughes, scored 18 points and Antonio Davis grabbed 18 rebounds for Toronto.

"We lost the intensity we had in the first half and it cost us," McGrady said. "We dug a hole in the third quarter and couldn't get out. They took it to us and we couldn't stop them and they killed us on the glass. They outran us and there was nothing we could do about it."

The Raptors were within 90-89 on a layup by Davis with 7.9 seconds left, but Iverson made two free throws after taking the inbounds pass. Davis dunked with two seconds left to make it 92-91 and Eric Snow hit one free throw with nine tenths of a second to play, leaving the Raptors with a chance for the final shot.

Hughes scored 11 of his 12 points after halftime and Philadelphia held a 27-20 advantage in rebounds in the final two quarters after being dominated on the boards in the first half.

Geiger had four of his nine points in Philadelphia's 12-3 burst that cut the deficit to 58-53 when Iverson made one free throw with?7:21to go in the third quarter.

The Sixers ended the period with a 13-6 surge and got within 69-61 when Hughes made a layup with 4.1 seconds remaining. Iverson had seven points in the spurt.

Kevin Willis, who scored 17 points, opened the fourth quarter with two free throws and a layup to give Toronto a 73-68 lead with?10:39remaining. The Sixers tied the game as Aaron McKie made two free throws with?9:58?left and Hughes completed a three-point play 52 seconds later.

Toronto's last lead came at 81-80 when Carter hit a 21-footer with4:04?to go. After a 20-footer by Iverson, Carter made a running jumper to pull the Raptors within 85-83 with?2:40?remaining. Toronto had a chance to tie the game, but Davis made only one free throw 21 seconds later.

Geiger's jumper from the left corner made it 87-84 with?2:05?left. Charles Oakley made two free throws with?1:45?to play but George Lynch answered with a jumper 11 seconds later, giving the Sixers an 89-86 edge.

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Video edited by Maxamillion711. Footage from the VHS vaults of Max and Vincentda aka?me

Now retired, Tracy McGrady has spent a lot of time in the past couple of months pondering "what ifs" during his career. ?He thought about how things would have been different if he was in Kobe's shoes in LA playing alongside his friend Shaquille O"Neal, and during?in an interview with the Toronto Star, he said he regrets leaving Vince Carter and the Raptors during the Summer of 2000.

“In hindsight, looking back, obviously I wish I had stayed in Toronto,” McGrady was saying in a recent telephone interview from his home in the Houston area. “There’s no doubt we could have contended for a championship. I think about that often. But if ‘if’ was a fifth, you know?”

I do know if you were like me in 1998-99 - eagerly waiting for the 11PM Sportscenter just so you could watch the latest Toronto Raptors recap - you were probably suffering from Vinsanity. ?It didn't help that the NBA, ESPN, NBC, FOX , CNN and my website GotVinsanity.com were doing their best to make the "disease" go viral by filling up every second they could of a Raptors recap with clips of Vince shooting, dunking and blocking shots. ?The only time you ever got to see one of Vince's teammates was if that teammate threw an oop to Vince, celebrated a dunk or 3pt game winner with Vince or missed a shot that Vince ended up cleaning up with a tip dunk. ?That was unfortunate because on the 1999 team was Vince's 20 year old talented cousin who was quietly averaging 15 points 6 rebounds 3 assists 2 blocks and 1 steal a game while having his share of nasty facials and rejections that mainly only Canadians were able to witness.

Although the media wasn't spending too much time focusing on Tracy McGrady, a lot of GMs were. ?One Rockets employee during that time told me he spent over a year trying to make a trade for T-Mac and almost pulled off a Kevin Willis for McGrady deal after T-Mac's disappointing rookie season. ?No deal happened so McGrady landed in the very talented free agent pool during the hot?summer of 2000 that included future teammates Grant Hill and Tim Duncan as well as Reggie Miller, Eddie Jones, Tim Thomas, Rashard Lewis, Mo Taylor, Cat Mobley and Joe Smith.

During that off season, many thought the Bulls were going to beat out hometown favorite Orlando for T-Mac's services when they showed him the attention and love that he was missing in Toronto.

"It's a great feeling. I have never had this many cameras in my face, ever," McGrady said after landing in Chicago and being greeted by the Bulls mascot, dancers, coach, GM and every news reporter in the windy city. ?The Bulls staff took the big baseball fan to a Cubs-White Sox game at Wrigley Field so he could throw the?ceremonial first pitch. McGrady then told reporters it was between Chicago and Orlando and said Hill and Duncan's decisions will play a big factor in what he does.

"I could be a great teammate beside Grant Hill and Tim Duncan. But I have to make the best decision for myself. I have to be happy. I just have to get some guys around me who are going to come out and play every night."

From that statement it sounded like McGrady was open to a big 3 but he then realized that being a part of the big 3 would give him less lights and shots than being beside Vince Carter.

"It definitely will be a major factor--I think I would be the third option [in Orlando]," he said. "I want to go somewhere where I would be the first option. I don't want to be the third option, because I think I'm a guy to really make things happen."

Grant Hill then signed with the Magic and Duncan ended up staying in San Antonio where he would remain their first option.

“It was probably a lot closer decision than people even think or even know,” ?Tim Duncan said referring to almost signing with Orlando.

Duncan's decision to not join Hill in Orlando ended up becoming the reason why McGrady would and in the recent Toronto Star interview, he made it sound like the Bulls never had a chance.

“They were going to get a percentage off of (my endorsement income),” McGrady said of his advisors, among them Alvis Smith, a shoe-company talent procurer who was credited with “discovering” McGrady as a high schooler. “They were pushing me to go to Chicago and I didn’t want to go to Chicago."

A lot of other players felt the same way about joining the Bulls. ?Eddie Jones was treated with the same reception as McGrady but he passed and in the end the Bulls ended up with Ron Mercer, Brad Miller and a horrible season. ?The Magic ended up a little above 500 and a first round exit in the playoffs while the McGrady-less Raptors season came down to the final seconds of a game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals against Iverson and the 76ers.

Back in 2011 on the the show "Off the Record," Tmac joined former teammates Vince and Charles Oakley and talked about that series.

"There is not one per cent of doubt in my mind when those guys played Philadelphia in Game 7: had I been part of that team, there's no question we would have advance and gone to the Finals that year. There's no question in my mind," said McGrady on Off The Record.

He then talked about returning to Toronto and the Raptor fans no longer being McGrady fans.

"When I came back, I was going to put it in their face, for booing me. I was going to try and silence them every chance that I got. But I still got a lot of love for Toronto, that's where it all started, and my heart is still there."

Evidently from his latest interview, his heart is still in Toronto.

Source: The Star & Chicago Tribune

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Tracy McGrady never saw the light of a 2nd round playoff game in his 16 year career before joining the Spurs days before the 2013 Playoffs started. ?Now he's just 1 win away from having a NBA championship added to his impressive resume.

Over the past couple of weeks, the superstar turned role player has become a fan favorite and victory cigar in San Antonio and given some great interviews and quotes including one about the anatomy of pigs.

In a recent interview with the NY Times, McGrady was asked about Dennis Rodman's ridiculous comment that LeBron would be just an average player in the 80s and 90s.

McGrady rolled his eyes at that, saying of James, “That’s definitely overboard because he’s probably one of the most gifted athletes that we’ve ever seen in our game, any era.” But on the subject of this era, he said he supported a change in the draft rules, increasing the current ban on high school players from one year to two.

“When I first came in, I mean, you still had M. J. and them guys in the game,” he said while owning up to the contradiction of his position. “You had men. You played with men. Now it’s a bunch of boys.”

TMac and his "boys" will play GM6 this Tuesday in Miami.

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Kobe never responded to T-Mac's claim that Kobe was lying about "roasting" him 1-on-1 and playing in Germany but we do have a 15 minute video of the two stars of the past decade going against each other during NBA games from 2001 to 2011.

So what does this video put together by SCHoops4Life and following boxscores prove?  To me, nothing much but the feeling that I really miss watching these two play each other.

B O X S C O R E S

2 0 0 1
T-Mac: FG 13/24 29 pts, 5 Ast, 2 Stls, 2 Blks
Kobe: FG 5/17 16 Pts, 7 Ast, 1 Stl

2 0 0 2
T-Mac: FG 12/28, 38 Pts, 9 Ast, 2 Stls, 1 Blk
Kobe: FG 14/31, 38 Pts, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

2 0 0 4
T-Mac: FG 13/32, 37Pts, 10 Ast, 2 Blks
Kobe: FG 13/26, 38 Pts, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk

2 0 0 4
T-Mac: FG 11/27, 27 Pts, 7 Ast, 1 Blk
Kobe: FG 4/19, 19 Pts, 10 Ast, 1 Stl

2 0 0 5
T-Mac: FG 6/16, 20 Pts, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk
Kobe: FG 6/13, 24 Pts, 6 Ast, 2 Stls

2 0 0 7
T-Mac: FG 7/24, 30 Pts, 10 Ast
Kobe: FG 19/44, 53 Pts, 2 Ast

2 0 0 7
T-Mac: FG 10/20, 30 pts, 4 Ast
Kobe: FG 13/32, 45pts, 4 Ast, 4 Stls, 1 Blk

2 0 0 8
T-Mac: FG 4/16, 11 Pts, 6 Ast
Kobe: FG 11/33, 24 Pts, 2 Ast

2 0 1 1
T-Mac: FG 5/8, 14 Pts, 6 Ast, 1 Blk
Kobe: FG 6/18, 18 Pts, 8 Ast, 1Stl

SPECIAL THANKS TO ICESCO415, for letting me a part his huge project here!
facebook.com/TMacHighlights @TMacHighlights

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But then there’s Tracy McGrady in 2004 where he drops 13 points in the last 35 seconds to come back and beat the San Antonio Spurs. T-Mac came through hitting contested jumpers left and right and even making a 4-point play willing his team to a victory. The Spurs even made a few free throws down the stretch to keep their lead. Then, when Devin Brown lost the ball with 8 seconds left, you had to think T-Mac could do it, and he did by hitting another 3 with 1.7 seconds left and winning the game. It was an incredible comeback that most people still don’t know about. T-Mac single-handedly brought the Rockets back and won that game. It was one of the craziest things I've seen live.

Here’s the drawbacks about the two comeback victories by Reggie Miller and Tracy McGrady. Although Reggie’s back to back 3s were impressive, the fact that the Pacers fouled after that all happened with the game tied, it could have made it the best last minute comeback that never happened. Instead, John Starks choked and missed both FT’s, and the Knicks fouled Reggie after the missed free throw with the game tied. Two dumb plays down the stretch lead to Reggie Miller’s 8 points in 9 seconds and the eventual comeback victory. On the other side, Tracy McGrady’s last minute comeback came during a regular season game in December. Other than it being a win against a strong Spurs team, and it didn’t mean much. That’s why it probably doesn’t get as much hype as Reggie Miller’s. And without Devin Brown’s slip, T-Mac doesn’t get the chance to win the game. But sometimes, stuff happens, and sometimes it leads to two of the greatest lat minute comeback victories.

What do you think? T-Mac's 13 in 35 or Reggie's 8 in 9?

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