“We have developed a game that combines the skills of basketball with the format of boxing. We also guarantee ten rounds of non-stop excitement because of the winner-take-all concept of the Skins Game. This is without a doubt the heavyweight championship of the world,” added Armato.

“Every NBA player, as well as every kid on the playground, relates to one-on-one basketball,” said Armato. “It’s one thing to say `my team beat your team,’ but one-on-one is for the ultimate bragging rights. This is basketball at its most basic, personal level — a game of hand-to-hand combat.”

The event even had an undercard:

“Nick Van Exel of the Lakers also will be there, for a little-guy contest against Kenny Anderson, as will a couple of raw NBA rookies, Joe Smith against the teen-aged Kevin Garnett, who isn’t old enough to go into the Trump Taj Mahal to see the showgirls.”

Shaq and Hakeem got together and filmed a promo spot – boxing style – for the matchup:

To promote it even more, they debuted a Taco Bell ad campaign for Taco Bell’s Double Decker taco that Spike Lee directed and acted in:

Lee also directed another ad which had the duo riding a tandem bicycle through Central Park.

Shaq vs. Hakeem’s “The War on the Floor” was supposed to happen seventeen years ago; let’s hope that Kyrie vs. Kobe can have similar hype but actually come to fruition.

Who would win a game of one-on-one between Kyrie Irving and Kobe Bryant?

Follow Ananth on Twitter at @Ananth_Pandian.

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