NBA journeyman Michael Beasley won the right to talk trash after his publicized 1-on-1 game against his former teammate, Lance Stephenson. Beasley did not waste his opportunity.
On Friday, Beasley and Stephenson faced off in the main card of the TNC 02 basketball event in Miami, Fla. Beasley thoroughly bested Stephenson 31-21 to take home the event’s $100,000 cash prize.
The former No. 2 overall pick got off to a quick 4-0 start and never looked back. The scoring display Beasley put on even had guest announcer Kyrie Irving swearing he “would never” want to play Beasley 1-on-1.
“I would never play one on one with Michael Beasley” -Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/58nmZRRems
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 7, 2025
Friday’s contest got contentious as Stephenson feuded with referees and spectators alike. But the former Indiana Pacers star showed love to Beasley after the game. Stephenson tagged Beasley in an Instagram story with the caption, “Great game bro.”
Beasley’s response started off wholesome. But the Kansas State alum could not resist getting a vulgar dig in at Stephenson.
“I love you to the moon and back… Now grab a cigarette and a towel… We made a sex tape Kim K would envy,” replied Beasley.
“We made a sextape Kim K would envy.”
– Michael Beasley’s message to Lance Stephenson pic.twitter.com/4vgqPF8GsC
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 7, 2025
Stephenson is no slouch as an opponent. The man known as “Born Ready” was an integral part of the Pacers’ deep postseason runs in 2013 and 2014. Lance was considered by many to have had more talent than he was able to realize in the NBA.
However, few players had more unrealized potential than Beasley. The Miami Heat selected him to be Dwyane Wade’s co-star back in 2008 after his stellar freshman season at Kansas State. He averaged 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds as a member of the Wildcats.
Beasley could just never put it together in the pro ranks. He played for seven different teams across 11 NBA seasons. The 6’9″ offensive savant averaged just 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds, never averaging over 20 points per game in any season.
Beasley played his final campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-19, when he became teammates with Stephenson.