"He's kind of his kryptonite" - NBA analyst names 1 player who can outplay Anthony Edwards, Giannis Antetokounmpo & others in 1-on-1 duel

Following the NBA's All-Star Weekend, reports have surfaced that the league is exploring the idea of a 1-on-1 tournament with a $1 million prize. While there's still plenty of time before next year's All-Star Weekend to figure out the details, the possibility of a 1-on-1 tournament has generated a lot of buzz in the NBA community.

On Tuesday's episode of the "Hoops Tonight: podcast, The Volume's Jason Timpf spoke about the potential tournament. While his bracket notably includes LeBron James, who reportedly doesn't play 1-on-1 play because he doesn't think it counts as real basketball, Timpf believes there's one player who can stop a wide range of playstyles, from Anthony Edwards to Giannis Antetokounmpo: Kevin Durant.

Players like Edwards, who has proven himself as a 3-point threat and a force to be reckoned with while driving to the basket, pose a unique challenge in 1-on-1 tournaments. If defenders give them space, they can shoot from deep; If defenders smother them with D, they can drive past them.

That's where a long forward like Kevin Durant comes in:

"Kevin Durant has top tier length. That gives him the best ability out of any player on this list to give space to contain the drive while also having the length to contest pull up jump shots. Even though I think Ant is excellent in this format, I think KD is kind of his kryptonite in this matchup."

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Anthony Edwards, Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo and more throw support behind potential NBA 1-on-1 tournament

While fans have been clamoring for a 1-on-1 tournament during All-Star Weekend for years now, the idea seems to be generating more buzz in the wake of the 2025 All-Star Game.

With the league looking for new ways to engage both players and fans, the idea of a 1-on-1 tournament has drawn plenty of interest from the NBA community. Throughout the All-Star Weekend, several players threw their support behind the idea of a 1-on-1 tournament.

For example, according to Tim Bontemps, The Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is in favor of the idea, and went so far as to say that he's in favor of anything that could make All-Star Weekend more entertaining.

In addition, players like Kyrie Irving said that if the NBA had a 1-on-1 tournament, he would be interested in participating.

Similarly, during his own All-Star Weekend interview with Rachel Nichols, Anthony Edwards also supported the idea, saying he would definitely participate in the event.

Of course, while the league could look to have an open 1-on-1 tournament, depending on how many players are interested, the league could also have several different divisions designed to break players up by height for a more even competition.

Although there's still plenty of time for the league to figure things out before next year's All-Star Weekend, it sounds like there's been tons of momentum behind the idea over the past week.