Can Street Players Beat NBA Players 1 on 1?

When I first watched AND1 Mixtape, there was one question came up to my mind which is “Can AND1 players beat NBA players?”  This should not be only me who thought about it.  AND1 is not as popular or famous as NBA, but their performance can make some people believe that AND1 can match up with NBA.

Let’s start with the conclusion.  NBA is much better than AND1 or street players.  Yes, it doesn’t sound fun at all, or maybe it is too obvious.  But this is if they play a game 5 on 5 full court.  Street rule is not as same as standard basketball rule, and defense is not as intense as NBA or varsity games.  Since streetball is more about skills and the show, defense is not important in the game.  They love to block or make nasty steals, but intense defense means using strategy to not letting opponents get buckets.  And street players are not meant to play as a team, NBA players have great team work, so it is not way that AND1 team or streetballers can beat NBA 5 on 5.

But what about 1 on 1?  Don’t they have nasty handles? Don’t they have higher reaping than NBA?  Some of the street players such as Professor, Hot Sauce, and Bone Collector have great handling skill.  Air up there can dunk better than most of the NBA players.  Aren’t they able to beat NBA players?

My answer is “NOT IMPOSSIBLE.”

It depends on match up and the rule.  If it is street rule, street players can use their full potential in a game.  Ok, so let’s use street rule so that street ballers don’t have to think about the rule.  And let’s not bring NBA stars.  It is obvious that they are better than any other basketball players since NBA is the best and the highest level basketball league.  So no Lebron, Kawhi, KD, Kyrie, Curry… and so on.  We should compare with average NBA player.

For example
Professor vs Trey Burke
This might be a good match up since Professor and Iverson was compared and also Trey Burke was once was called next Iverson.  They both have good handles and jump shot at midrange.  In defense Trey is 4 inches taller, so it is easy for him to block the way, but the rule is street rule.  Professor can make a lot of fakes and once pass Trey, he can score.  For Trey, it is easier if he use post move or focus on shooting not dribble.  As long as Professor faking Trey upset can happen since for NBA players, basketball is 5 on 5 not 1 on 1.  Since Rafer Alston was able to make it to NBA there is a chance that street players can beat NBA players 1 on 1.

The biggest difference between street players and NBA player is shooting ability.  Handling and dunking can be as good as NBA players, but what NBA players need to do is “SCORING” so even if they have sick handles or reaping ability, it does not make them great players.

Here is a video that Montrezl Harrell played against Chinese popular streetballer at Venice beach.

What is your opinion?  Please comment here!!