Dream 1-on-1 NBA Big-Man Matchups We'd Love to See and Who Would Win

All basketball fans have picked up a basketball and gone one-on-one against a friendly rival at some point in their lives. The matchup may have happened in a backyard, a driveway, a local gym or some other location. 

Well, NBA players are no different. When given the right competition, not many things can be more enjoyable than a no-blood, no-foul matchup with another great player. 

These are the dream matchups we NBA fans would like to see if we could put players in a time machine and see them play each other on a neutral court in their primes.

The only catch is, only big men can play. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Dwight Howard

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was one of the most talented offensive big men ever to take the court. There's a reason (other than his longevity, of course) that he's the NBA's all-time leading scorer. 

On the other hand, we have Dwight Howard, the winner of the last three Defensive Player of the Year awards. If I had to bet on it, I'd say that he'll come out with the award for the fourth straight time after this season, whenever it may happen. 

Even though D12 is significantly more physical than Abdul-Jabbar, the latter possesses the single most unstoppable shot of all time. 

Winner: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Charles Barkley vs. Ben Wallace

Just like in the previous matchup, this one-on-one battle would be a battle of offense against defense. 

This time, the offense would come in the form of Charles Barkley, otherwise known as the Round Mound of Rebound. Chuck would provide spectators with an incredible amount of humor as he found various ways to score with his surprising athleticism.

As for Ben Wallace, he would have to count on stopping Barkley often enough to make up for his lack of talent on the offensive side of the court. I just can't see that happening. 

Winner: Charles Barkley

Wilt Chamberlain vs. Shaquille O'Neal

What would happen if the most physically dominant center of the early periods of the NBA took on the most physically dominant center of the modern era? Just to clarify, Wilt Chamberlain is the early one and Shaquille O'Neal is the modern one. 

I feel as though Shaq is just too big and strong to be stopped by Wilt on offense, no matter how much The Stilt bullied the smaller centers of his time. 

Wilt is definitely an all-time great, but he wouldn't win this matchup. 

Winner: Shaquille O'Neal

Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell

This matchup happened quite a few times back in the day, but it doesn't make it any less special, especially if they were the only players on the court. 

As much as I hate to admit it, Wilt Chamberlain was just too dominant on the offensive side of the ball to be stopped in a one-on-one matchup by a smart, finesse defender like Bill Russell.

That's not to say that Russell couldn't overpower his opponent, just that he couldn't when that opponent was Wilt. 

Whenever these two played in their primes, it was considered an accomplishment if Russell could hold The Chairman of the Boards to just 30 points in a single game. 

Winner: Wilt Chamberlain

Tim Duncan vs. Kevin Garnett

The current generation of basketball players was led at the power forward position by a pair of players with the ability to dominate on both offense and defense.

Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan may be down to their last few years in the league, but they've both already established themselves as all-time greats. 

They've battled against each other many times, but never in a one-on-one setting like this hypothetical one. 

Duncan's underrated defensive abilities would help him come out on top in this matchup, though. 

Winner: Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan vs. David Robinson

These two may have played at the same time, but they never battled each other except for in practice because they were both members of the San Antonio Spurs. 

David Robinson was the original great Spurs big man before he passed the title over to Tim Duncan, a man who he mentored into the great player he is today, or at least was a few years ago. 

As great as Duncan is, I'm not sure he could match up with the bigger, stronger Robinson over the course of a one-on-one matchup. 

Winner: David Robinson

Patrick Ewing vs. Bob Lanier

A matchup of two underrated centers, Patrick Ewing and Bob Lanier might not be able to put a lot of fans in the seats, but they'd put on a hell of a matchup on the court. 

As great as Lanier's all-around game was for the Detroit Pistons, he simply wouldn't be able to stop Ewing's offensive skills, especially when you take into account Ewing's high-release shot. 

Winner: Patrick Ewing

Pau Gasol vs. Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale and Pau Gasol are two of the greatest offensive post players ever to play in the NBA, but how would they match up against each other?

As great as this game may look on paper, it wouldn't even be close. 

McHale was a tremendous defender during his prime, a claim which Gasol cannot exactly make.

Plus, the former Boston Celtic has too many post moves to possibly be stopped by a player that couldn't physically overwhelm him. 

Winner: Kevin McHale

Blake Griffin vs. Shawn Kemp

The amount of dunks in this game would simply be breathtaking. The results would fill up the entire Top 10 Plays segment on SportsCenter the next day. 

As much as I love Blake Griffin, though, it's still too early to take him over Shawn Kemp. The Reign Man was a fully established player on both ends of the court and would have his way with the younger and less polished big man. 

If this one-on-one matchup actually happened, though, we'd have to remember to bring at least a few more baskets. 

Winner: Shawn Kemp

Dwight Howard vs. Hakeem Olajuwon

David Robinson couldn't stop the Dream Shake.  The same can be said for almost everyone that Hakeem Olajuwon went up against during his illustrious career. 

Could Dwight Howard stop it? 

I don't think that Superman would be able to completely shut down Olajuwon, even if he could slow him a little bit. Howard relies to much on physicality to stop the post moves of Hakeem. 

Winner: Hakeem Olajuwon

Serge Ibaka vs. Dikembe Mutombo

Can you imagine how many blocks there would be in this game? 

All you need to know is, there would be more finger wags from Dikembe Mutombo than whatever type of celebrations Serge Ibaka decided to employ. 

Winner: Dikembe Mutombo

Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Bill Russell

Of all the matchups listed in this slideshow, this one might be my absolute favorite. 

Hakeem Olajuwon is the best offensive big men of the relatively-modern era and second only to Wilt Chamberlain in that aspect among NBA players all time. 

Bill Russell, though, is head and shoulders above the rest of the big men in NBA history on the defensive end of the court. 

I went back and forth for quite some time when it came to picking a winner, but in the end had to settle for Russell. His sheer will to win would lead him to victory in this contest. 

Winner: Bill Russell

Dennis Rodman vs. Wes Unseld

Capping off our list of dream matchups is a battle that would by no means be a pretty one to watch. 

Dennis Rodman would fight tooth and nail with Wes Unseld, especially when it came to grabbing rebounds whenever shots would fail to find the bottom of the net.

The two of them are some of the greatest pound-for-pound rebounders of all time, arguably the greatest defensive and offensive rebounders, respectively. 

As is the case with all one-on-one matchups, you do have to score points to win games. In this case, Unseld's 10.8 points per game over his career slightly trumps Rodman's 7.3. 

Winner: Wes Unseld

Adam Fromal is a syndicated writer and Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter.

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