Greg Hardy, NFL Defensive End, Says He Would Beat LeBron 1-on-1 Because He's "a Beast"

Greg Hardy is a 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive end of the Carolina Panthers. Hardy played some college basketball at Ole Miss, but starred on the football team. [Career highlight? Beating Tim Tebow in the swamp.] Briefly, Hardly was projected as an early-round draft choice, but fell to the 6th round.

Also: He’s cocky, and perhaps delusional. Speaking to the Charlotte Observer Monday, Hardy said he could “dominate” LeBron, the best basketball player on the planet, in a 1-on-1 showdown.

"Q: If you went 1-on-1 with LeBron who would win? A: How should I answer this question? …I would dominate that dude. Hands down, guaranteed win. And that’s my favorite player. Q: Why? A: I’m a beast Q: He’s pretty good too, though. A: What’s your point? Everyone says he can go to the NFL and play defensive end, who says I cant go to the NBA? Q: I’m not saying you can’t. I’m asking, why do you feel so confident that you’d beast LeBron James in a game of 1-on-1? A: I’m not saying I would beast him, but I would definitely win. I got a good shot, I got good handles, I got good size (6-foot-4, 275 pounds). I feel that we match up pretty well. I was a defensive player in college. Q: Doesn’t he have about four inches on you? (LeBron is 6-foot-8, 250 pounds) A: Maybe. I got like a 39-inch vertical. I’m a little bulkier too. But nobody knows I got hops."

Sure, Greg, because a 39-inch vertical and “drastic hops” means you can hang with LeBron.

Is this the slowest Tuesday morning of the NFL season? Yes. The good news is, the start of the NBA season is two weeks ago, and the college basketball season begins in five weeks. [via Observer]