Floyd Mayweather Jr. wants to go 1-on-1 with Kobe Bryant for $1 million

Blake Schuster
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
Kobe Bryant is one of the most unstoppable players in NBA history, but that didn’t stop Floyd Mayweather Jr. from challenging him to a game of one-on-one for $1 million. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant is one of the most unstoppable players in NBA history, but that didn’t stop Floyd Mayweather Jr. from challenging him to a game of one-on-one for $1 million. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

There are some people you just don’t test.

You don’t attempt to out-run Usain Bolt. You don’t go after Michael Phelps in the pool. You don’t challenge Billy Madison to an academic decathlon. And you certainly don’t offer to play Kobe Bryant for a large sum of money.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t seem to care for that last bit. While the rest of the basketball world was celebrating Kobe’s career as the Los Angeles Lakers retired his jerseys, the boxing champion posted a challenge to Bryant on Instagram seeking to play 1-on-1 for a million dollars.

Let’s set aside the publicity aspect for just a minute and look at the absurdity of this.

A 5-foot-8, 40-year-old former boxer has challenged a 6-foot-6 scoring machine who has made a career out of embarrassing every athlete he’s ever faced. This might be the easiest million dollars Kobe has ever earned.

Let’s not forget, Kobe is the guy who picks on random people at his basketball camps to utterly destroy 1-on-1.

Let’s also not forget the time Kobe spotted a challenger ten points in a game to 11.

Bryant was even asked back in his playing days who, if anyone, has ever beaten him 1-on-1. His response? Laughter. He then got serious and said, “No one. That’s what I do.”

This might all just be a gimmick for Mayweather, but he might not even be able to score a single point against Kobe.

Of course, the only way this happens is with a lot of talk from Mayweather, followed by an absurd contract dispute, followed by Mayweather wanting to use a specific ball that Kobe has probably never heard of, followed by a dispute over the type of shoes Kobe gets to wear followed by a lengthy press tour, followed by Mayweather finally stepping on the court only to hold the ball the entire time and only shoot when the game clock hits zero.

Wait … that might actually work.

– – – – – –

Blake Schuster is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!