Cross-sport comparisons tend to go best for NBA players. It’s not often you’ll find guys who say MLB, NHL, or NFL athletes can compete in the NBA, but the reverse almost always happens because of the incredible athleticism on-hand in the NBA. Many NBA players could conceivably compete on the gridiron, and that’s the impetus behind Dallas Cowboys receiver, Dez Bryant, saying that LeBron James would dominate if he played in the NFL.
While it’s not clear how well some NFL players would fare in the NBA—we’re thinking of Pro Bowl TE Tony Gonzalez helping his University of California basketball team to the Sweet Sixteen during his junior year—NBA players are more capable of switching sports mid-career because their athleticism translates better to other professional arenas.
Dez Bryant told ESPNDallas.com that LeBron James could actually dominate NFL competition if he decided to take a mid-career sabbatical similar to Michael Jordan after he retired the first time from the NBA.
“I’ve seen a little bit of his highlights from high school. He’s got the hands, he can run the routes, he’s fast enough. He could play in this league if he put it all together.”
LeBron did play football for St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in Akron, Ohio as perhaps the biggest and most talented HS wide receiver in the state. But James gave football up before his senior year after smartly realizing he could be the best basketball player in the world.
But Dez thinks LeBron might have been almost as dominating at football as he is playing basketball; he would just need a little practice to get comfortable:
“All he’d need to do is probably work on a little technique,” Bryant said. “It’s not like he’s never played football before. He has played football. I think he’d be a beast in the red zone. I think he could do it. I think he could do it, seriously.”
NBA players actually making the leap to football mid-career is highly implausible, but NBA stars who also starred for their high school football teams isn’t nearly as rare.
Perhaps the best example of this is 6-0, 160 lbs. (but actually smaller) Allen Iverson. AI starred at QB for Bethel High School in Hampton, Virginia as well as for their basketball team. In his junior season, Iverson lead both the football and basketball teams to Virginia State Championships and earned The Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in both sports.
Even though AI is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, so is the 6-8, 250 lbs. James. Dez Bryant’s comments aren’t as far-fetched as they appear at first, but we’d caution James to stick with basketball since he’s been doing pretty well so far.
Could LeBron James star in the NFL?
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