During Wednesday’s conference call with local reporters, Newton wouldn’t say who exactly wins the majority of these contests. But Norman and his brothers proudly boast their dominance over the 2015 NFL MVP and his crew on the basketball court.

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“Listen here, man, at the end of the day, I feel as if it’s a pending season,” Newton said. “It’s not over yet. Body composition is very important when we’re talking about playing against ‘DB-like’ players, and you have got another offensive line-like team with a God-type figure, but I can only do but so much.

“He chooses the players that he’s more familiar with. I feel as if I can win with anybody with my God-like skills and me being a team player, put the whole team on my back like LeBron [James] at any given moment.”

Norman only plays these games with his brothers, and they’ve developed a strong chemistry on the court playing together since they were kids in their hometown of Greenwood, S.C. Meanwhile, Newton said he enjoys the “pickup” element of these cardio sessions by joining a few different teams throughout the course of the day.

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“Them boys, we see them like our brothers,” said Phillip Norman, the youngest of the Norman brothers. “They’re out here in Atlanta, so we hit ‘em up, go out and stuff other than just basketball. That’s where it originally started, man, by just getting a little cardio. It’d be good runs. Some of them, most of them, would be close. It’s all competition. We like to compete. That’s very strong in my family, and I know it is in his family. Right now, we’re definitely on top. But you never know. He might go get some NBA players or something because Cam said he’s going to go recruit some people. We’ll see what he’s got but right now, we’ve got them Bill Belichick numbers on this man, bro. We ain’t much for taking L’s.”

Newton claimed Josh Norman and his brothers all have nicknames for each other on the court, “calling themselves ‘Fat’ and ‘Black Fat’, ‘Chubby’, ‘Boobie’ — you don’t know who is talking to who.” He also said Norman and his brothers have code names for different plays they call.

“They’re running plays in basketball, they’re asking for subs in a five-on-five game,” Newton said. “I can’t handle it, man. We just do recreational, pickup games of basketball. They have got team jerseys and stuff.”

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Norman and his brothers have said that they’ve beaten Newton so badly on the court that he’s attempted to switch sports in order to chalk up some wins, including volleyball, cards and even dominoes. They claim Newton hasn’t had much success at those sports either.

“They’ve got a lot of pride, I’ll tell ya that much,” Phillip Norman said. “Them boys got a lot of pride. They keep playing us and know they ain’t gonna win. It started with basketball, and I guess they got tired of getting beat on in basketball so they wanted to do volleyball. Cam, he’s really athletic. His brother is athletic, but they’re just a little too different.”

When asked about Norman’s worst sport, Newton joked, “If you ask Josh that, Josh is probably going to tell you that he doesn’t have a sport that he isn’t good at. I don’t know, man. Let’s just say a spelling bee.”

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Beyond the field, and the hardwood, Newton said he loves the game of football even more because of the long-lasting relationships it has provided with players like Norman. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the friendship developed into the brotherhood it is now, but Newton said he respects Norman’s game and the development he’s made from a small school like Coastal Carolina to becoming the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.

That friendship has been tested through what Newton described as “candid events where competition may have took a turn for the best and for the worst.” That includes a well-known scuffle between Newton and Norman during training camp last year. The images of Newton grabbing the helmet of an off-balance Norman went viral and gave off the perception to some that they didn’t exactly have a great relationship. They say that’s untrue. Newton said they had made up before that practice ended, and he would engage in that same encounter again if it meant getting the best out of Norman.

“The thing that people don’t realize is, when you talk about great teams, when you talk about great players, they challenge each other,” Newton said. “I’m pretty sure Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen got into it; obviously Shaq and Kobe. LeBron probably got into it with a lot of his players; Peyton, Tom and those guys. Mine was just the only time where social media was really blasting at the time and one little picture just took over.”

There will likely be some trash talking on Monday night between Newton and Norman. It won’t be the first or last time Newton hears it from Josh Norman — or any other Norman for that matter.