Stories about Michael Beasley’s filthy iso game have floated around the league for years. Players, coaches, fans, everybody knew Beas could flat-out cook one-on-one. But have you ever caught yourself wondering, was he really that good? Thanks to D’Vontay Friga’s The Next Chapter series, those whispers finally turned into standing ovations. Hoop fans got to witness it live when Beasley squared off against NBA vet Lance Stephenson in a pay-per-view, winner-takes-bragging-rights showdown.

And Beasley didn’t disappoint. He walked away with the last laugh. And now, former NBA champion Stephen Jackson wants a worthy opponent for this dunk monster. 

The final score? 31-21. Beasley took it home and pocketed a smooth $100,000 while doing it, per Bleacher Report. And for the record, Lance Stephenson isn’t some pickup court scrub either. This guy is known for physical, in-your-face, one-on-one battles. He makes you earn every bucket. But Beasley, he made it look easy. So much so that even Lance had to dap him up postgame with a, “Great game, bro.” What makes this even better is knowing Beasley’s been out of the league since 2019, officially hanging it up in 2022. His prime might’ve been back in the early 2010s, but watching him now, he hasn’t lost a step. 

And if you thought the Beasley-Stephenson showdown was the grand finale, think again. Stephen Jackson’s already fanning the flames for what could be the nastiest one-on-one battle we’ve seen yet. On a recent All The Smoke episode, Jackson said, “The only person I would like to see him play is Joe.”

And by Joe, he meant Iso Joe himself aka Joe Johnson. For anyone new to the game, Joe wasn’t just a seven-time All-Star. He was the isolation king. That man made defenders look silly in one-on-one situations. Well, he earned the nickname “Iso Joe” for a reason. At 6’7”, 240 pounds, Joe could punish defenders inside, break them down on the perimeter, or just flat-out embarrass them.

Even Vernon Maxwell couldn’t keep cool, jumping in with a nod, “Yeah, that’ll be a tough one, that’ll be a good one.” Jackson wasn’t done either. “I mean, if I had to pick one game to see…” Before he could finish, Maxwell cut him off and said, “That’ll be a good one, we have to go watch that.” So now, here’s where we stand. Beasley, a one-on-one killer who’s allergic to Ls, and Iso Joe, a living problem built for these exact moments. One man drops buckets for fun, the other turns one-on-one games into personal highlight reels. If this face-off happens, hoop fans everywhere better clear their schedule, ‘cause this one’s gonna be legendary.

But legendary or not, one thing’s for sure: Michael Beasley knows how to make legends and how to humble them too. This man’s built for one-on-one smoke. And speaking of legends, turns out Beasley recently opened up about none other than LeBron James. And if what Beasley said holds weight, it might just add another wild chapter to his story.

Michael Beasley says he torched LeBron James in a private one-on-one battle

Turns out, Michael Beasley’s one-on-one legend might be even crazier than we thought. While LeBron James is hailed as one of the greatest to ever touch a basketball, his one-on-one rep isn’t exactly stamped in stone. And Beasley’s out here claiming he handed The King an L in a private battle. During a livestream with Adin Ross, things got interesting real quick. Ross asked, “Did you beat LeBron in a 1v1?” And without flinching, Beasley fired back, “Yeah. I mean, the story is told wrong.”

Now, to be fair, most of what Beasley said after that was all over the place. But when Ross pressed him for the score, Beasley casually said, “9 to 11.” Ross was shook, trying to confirm if it was really a blowout, and Beasley doubled down with a simple, “Yeah.”

It’s one of those stories that hoops heads love because even though there’s zero footage and no witnesses, it fits Beasley’s whole unpredictable, street-legend vibe. This man’s isolation game has always been lethal, and league insiders knew it. But now? Now he’s saying he cooked LeBron behind closed doors. And honestly, whether you believe it or not, it’s one h__l of a story to add to the Michael Beasley myth.