Austin Rivers on NBA vs NFL players

[Repeat 3-peat]

The "Oklahoma drill" turned a lot of football players towards basketball.

For some reason, basketball fans have no idea how much skill/athleticism it takes to play football, or even in the NFL. Whether it's getting open as a receiver/tight end, blocking a 6'3" to 6'5" 290+ lb defensive linemen, rushing the passer or defending the run as a defensive lineman/edge rusher/off-ball LB(it's not always single/1 on 1 blocking) vs the same body types, covering receivers in the open field as a corner while not creating any contact past 5 yards, or even a linebacker trying to cover a shifty slot receiver on free releases. I've yet to mention the most important position in football, playing quarterback.

You don't see one and done college prospects for a reason.

[JDR720]

What Austin is saying is that the transition would be easier.

A lot of the NBA players could be TEs or endzone WRs just due to their leaping ability and height and size. The athleticism is already there, but teaching the techniques would take time.

JJ Watt is considered a "stud" in the NFL at 6'5 290. In the NBA, he'd be an undersized power forward like Zion but without the athleticism.

Zion also has NBA level dribble, aka better than 95% of people who practiced or even professionally played Basketball their entire lifes. Altho some guys depend on their size and athleticism, immense NBA level skill is required. Basketball has hundreds proffesional leagues, NBA is more talented than all of the combined.

And I am not saying NFL is easier to reach, but it requires tools that greatest basketball players could maybe have - size and athleticism.

What do American Football college players even do post college? How many non NFL leagues there are?

The only other professional American football league is the CFL (Canadian league). Besides that, there are a few random semi-pro US leagues. For how popular is it, there are very few options outside of the NFL professionally.

[UcanUwill]

What Austin is saying is that the transition would be easier.

A lot of the NBA players could be TEs or endzone WRs just due to their leaping ability and height and size. The athleticism is already there, but teaching the techniques would take time.

JJ Watt is considered a "stud" in the NFL at 6'5 290. In the NBA, he'd be an undersized power forward like Zion but without the athleticism.

Zion also has NBA level dribble, aka better than 95% of people who practiced or even professionally played Basketball their entire lifes. Altho some guys depend on their size and athleticism, immense NBA level skill is required. Basketball has hundreds proffesional leagues, NBA is more talented than all of the combined.

And I am not saying NFL is easier to reach, but it requires tools that greatest basketball players could maybe have - size and athleticism.

What do American Football college players even do post college? How many non NFL leagues there are?

The only other professional American football league is the CFL (Canadian league). Besides that, there are a few random semi-pro US leagues. For how popular is it, there are very few options outside of the NFL professionally.

Its a bit weird that league tiers never caught on in American sports. Compare it to Soccer in Europe, where infrastructure is sound, they have dozens of divisions. England for example, you probably couldn't find a pig town that does not have at least one professional FC, and since relegations and ptomotions exist, even pig town team is connected to biggest thing in some way, there is always at least a dream that your team, no matter how small, could make a Premiership.

[FollowTheSound]

For how popular is it, there are very few options outside of the NFL professionally.

Because it's not that popular. The NFL is only really popular in the US and somewhat in Canada. Anywhere else it doesn't even scratch the top 10 most popular sports.

[Harry Garris]

I mean you could definitely find more NFL players in the NBA than vice versa. But there are 450 players in the NBA and 1700 in the NFL, there is a lot more opportunity in the NFL and a lower barrier to entry by virtue of the fact that there are so many more spots to fill. It's not an even comparison.

[Chokic]

Raw athleticism and size gets you a lot farther in the NFL than it does in the NBA
I think there are quite a few NBA players who, if they either focused on football in college OR if they were given a year or two to bulk up and study, could play in the NFL. I don't think there are many, if any who can do the inverse though.

Generally, athletic freaks will pick basketball over football 10 times out of 10. More money, longer careers on average, less of a toll on the body. If they aren't good enough for basketball, then they'll try football.

Exactly I can think of many athletic freaks in basketball that either

A. Never made it to the nba(randy culpepper senario hillman ike nwamu deuce bello shaquille johnson jahii carson etc)

B. Was barely a nba player(James white Mac mclung cassius stanley etc)

C. Just a guy(gerald green derrick jones jr etc)

[JDR720]

Its a bit weird that league tiers never caught on in American sports. Compare it to Soccer in Europe, where infrastructure is sound, they have dozens of divisions. England for example, you probably couldn't find a pig town that does not have at least one professional FC, and since relegations and ptomotions exist, even pig town team is connected to biggest thing in some way, there is always at least a dream that your team, no matter how small, could make a Premiership.

In the US people really only care about the "top division". Minor league teams can be popular in their respective towns though, but more as a family weekend hangout thing. Like minor league baseball, even my county (of like 60k people) has a minor league baseball team.

So the European soccer model just wouldn't work. And lately, it isn't even working that well in Europe either. Because, let's be honest, nobody outside the top few teams (or sometimes even just the top team) have a chance to win anything. Teams being regulated also causes them a lot of instability and financial stress. Tons of teams are in debt up to their eyeballs, even huge clubs.

That just wouldn't happen in the US. Due to league stability and caps.

Which is one of the biggest reasons some clubs want a Super League. Even the EPL is implementing a spending cap.

[UcanUwill]

Because it's not that popular. The NFL is only really popular in the US and somewhat in Canada. Anywhere else it doesn't even scratch the top 10 most popular sports.

Globally it doesn't exist, but he speaks of the US
I think, quote obviously. Honestly, it would be the same for basketball, but Basketball is existent sport, so there sre countless options overseas.

I think you are very kind with a top 10, I am not sure even Basketball is top 10 in a lot of places, even ones that has decent talent. When Germany won world cup, we discussed a German journalist poll from few years back, where germans listed most popular sports of theirs, and I think Basketball was 18th... They are world champions of Basketball.

I mean if we talk team sports, Basketball probably makes top three in a lot of countries, but overall, F1, Tennis are just few that come to mind that would be far more popular in most places.

[Duke4life831]

I also do think many get wrong the kind of athletes that transfer to football better. People think of guys like Ant and other athletes that they think can just go play WR or CB.

I actually don’t think those guys have much of a chance. You have to look at the kind of guys that have made that jump and what they tend to have to offer from a physical standpoint. They tend to be guys in the 260+ range of weight.

Best chance will be at the TE. And there you don’t want to get too tall, you want to get guys in that 6’3-6’5 range that are in the 250-260 range. There aren’t too many NBA players that fit that mold.

[UcanUwill]

Its a bit weird that league tiers never caught on in American sports. Compare it to Soccer in Europe, where infrastructure is sound, they have dozens of divisions. England for example, you probably couldn't find a pig town that does not have at least one professional FC, and since relegations and ptomotions exist, even pig town team is connected to biggest thing in some way, there is always at least a dream that your team, no matter how small, could make a Premiership.

In the US people really only care about the "top division". Minor league teams can be popular in their respective towns though, but more as a family weekend hangout thing. Like minor league baseball, even my county (of like 60k people) has a minor league baseball team.

So the European soccer model just wouldn't work. And lately, it isn't even working that well in Europe either. Because, let's be honest, nobody outside the top few teams (or sometimes even just the top team) have a chance to win anything. Teams being regulated also causes them a lot of instability and financial stress. Tons of teams are in debt up to their eyeballs, even huge clubs.

That just wouldn't happen in the US. Due to league stability and caps.

Which is one of the biggest reasons some clubs want a Super League. Even the EPL is implementing a spending cap.

Ownership I think is quite different. In the US, I believe owning a sports team is seen as business investment. Maybe there are Ballmers of the world where they can only spend and wouldn't care, but in Europe, owning most teams, you do it for the idea, not intent to profit. It is opposite of that, you need to only spend and you can easily go bancrupt. Yes, stability in Euro sports is not something that exists, Real Madrids will always make money, but most teams, even really good ones will never have financial stability.

[FollowTheSound]

Because it's not that popular. The NFL is only really popular in the US and somewhat in Canada. Anywhere else it doesn't even scratch the top 10 most popular sports.

Globally it doesn't exist, but he speaks of the US
I think, quote obviously. Honestly, it would be the same for basketball, but Basketball is existent sport, so there sre countless options overseas.

I think you are very kind with a top 10, I am not sure even Basketball is top 10 in a lot of places, even ones that has decent talent. When Germany won world cup, we discussed a German journalist poll from few years back, where germans listed most popular sports of theirs, and I think Basketball was 18th... They are world champions of Basketball.

I mean if we talk team sports, Basketball probably makes top three in a lot of countries, but overall, F1, Tennis are just few that come to mind that would be far more popular in most places.

Basketball is the second biggest sport in most countries in the world. F1 and Tennis are just popular in rich countries, people in most countries don't care about those """""sports"""" (I don't consider F1 a sport). Basketball is the biggest team sport in China by a pretty large margin, it's a religion in the philippines and is the fastest growing sport in most countries in the world. Technically, Basketball is the third biggest sport in the world with Cricket being slightly more popular because of how populous India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, but it's expected to overtake cricket and cement itself as #2 in the world soon.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

The comparison basically always comes with the caveat that the basketball players have to add 30-50 pounds which at that size they’d no longer be functional NBA players rendering the whole thing kinda meaningless

This is wrong, plenty of guard sized players are around the same height and weight as defensive backs and wide receivers. The average height and weight of DBs is 5'10" 190lbs, which opens the door to plenty of NBA PGs. The NBA to NFL transition for most players would take place at DB, WR and TE especially for the undersized power forwards.

Lou Dort would be someone every NFL team would give a workout to.

[FollowTheSound]

Because it's not that popular. The NFL is only really popular in the US and somewhat in Canada. Anywhere else it doesn't even scratch the top 10 most popular sports.

Globally it doesn't exist, but he speaks of the US
I think, quote obviously. Honestly, it would be the same for basketball, but Basketball is existent sport, so there sre countless options overseas.

I think you are very kind with a top 10, I am not sure even Basketball is top 10 in a lot of places, even ones that has decent talent. When Germany won world cup, we discussed a German journalist poll from few years back, where germans listed most popular sports of theirs, and I think Basketball was 18th... They are world champions of Basketball.

I mean if we talk team sports, Basketball probably makes top three in a lot of countries, but overall, F1, Tennis are just few that come to mind that would be far more popular in most places.

Basketball is the second biggest sport in most countries in the world. F1 and Tennis are just popular in rich countries, people in most countries don't care about those """""sports"""" (I don't consider F1 a sport). Basketball is the biggest team sport in China by a pretty large margin, it's a religion in the philippines and is the fastest growing sport in most countries in the world. Technically, Basketball is the third biggest sport in the world with Cricket being slightly more popular because of how populous India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, but it's expected to overtake cricket and cement itself as #2 in the world soon.

I'm from Canada and Basketball is possibly the biggest sport with the canadian youth because of recent growth in the sport. Hockey is still king of course, but social media has propelled Basketball so much around the world.

[TwitterFingers]

He’s right. If nba players trained like nfl players they could make the switch.

[nikster]

I mean you could definitely find more NFL players in the NBA than vice versa. But there are 450 players in the NBA and 1700 in the NFL, there is a lot more opportunity in the NFL and a lower barrier to entry by virtue of the fact that there are so many more spots to fill. It's not an even comparison.

I think the other thing is the pool of athletes. Basketball is way more popular internationally and there are more professional leagues for development.

The money, career length and safety (I.e. CTE) is way better on the NBA too so I imagine most elite two sport athletes would pick NBA over NFL if given the choice (in addition to the other professional leagues to fall back on)

[KembaWalker]

The comparison basically always comes with the caveat that the basketball players have to add 30-50 pounds which at that size they’d no longer be functional NBA players rendering the whole thing kinda meaningless

This is wrong, plenty of guard sized players are around the same height and weight as defensive backs and wide receivers. The average height and weight of DBs is 5'10" 190lbs, which opens the door to plenty of NBA PGs. The NBA to NFL transition for most players would take place at DB, WR and TE especially for the undersized power forwards.

Lou Dort would be someone every NFL team would give a workout to.

NBA players are too small to play TE, and not skilled or fast enough to play gadget WR which is the only size bucket they would fit in. The idea of any NBA player dropping in to a professional defense skill position and not making a complete fool of themselves is a joke

[ellobo]

Charlie Ward and Donovan McNabb were good at both sports, although they each only played one professionally. And neither was a freaky athlete, or very big, by the standards of either sport.

I remember watching Tony Gonzalez and Julius Peppers play college basketball. I never actually saw Antonio Gates play basketball, but he was an all-conference player in the MAC.

On the freaky athlete side, here are a couple of Lawrence Taylor basketball stories:

However, there was one former Tar Heel that [Jordan's UNC teammate Buzz] Peterson claims actually scared Jordan.

“There is one guy that I always thought, and I know to this day — I don’t know if Michael won’t admit or not, but I swear that he had a little bit of fear of — and it wasn’t a basketball player. It was a football player by the name of Lawrence Taylor. LT, phenomenal athlete. Could guard east to west, as quick as anybody, could jump, big hands, strong and was a bit crazy. So Michael in the back of his mind said, ‘Sh-t, I better be careful with this guy.’ And LT always wanted to guard him.”

Yes, Lawrence Taylor is just as devastating on the basketball floor as he is on the football field. So testifies Cleveland Cavalier rookie Brad Daugherty who has played with the linebacker in summer pickup games at North Carolina, their alma mater.

Daugherty told this story to The Sporting News: “We were playing--me, Al Wood and some of the guys we have there now, like Kenny Smith. It was 11-10 and we were playing to 15 when Lawrence walked in and said, ‘I want to play.’ We said, ‘We’re almost done. You can have the next game.’ L.T. said, ‘I want to play now.’

“I said, ‘Lawrence, be patient. Four more points.’ He said, ‘If I ain’t playing, no damnbody’s playing.’ He reached up and tore down the rim and backboard and walked away with it.”

Add Daugherty: “Everyone thinks I’m crazy when I say this, but Lawrence Taylor could play in the NBA. He couldn’t start, but he could help just about every team. He would have to lose a little weight, but he’s so quick and so strong. I’ve never seen a guy that big who could jump that high.”

[azcatz11]

I played both sports in highschool.

He's 100% correct.

Basketball takes actual skill. Football is skills as well, but you can get away with less skill in football because you're basically running and tackling for the most part.

If you can't dribble or shoot what exactly can you do in basketball?

Yep.

NFL = way better athletes but the nba dudes are 100x more skilled. Like, not even close. Any football player would play basketball if they chose for obvious reasons. If an NFL player could transition to NbA they would in a heartbeat. There is a reason why this has never happened. Rivers is spot on

[UcanUwill]

Globally it doesn't exist, but he speaks of the US
I think, quote obviously. Honestly, it would be the same for basketball, but Basketball is existent sport, so there sre countless options overseas.

I think you are very kind with a top 10, I am not sure even Basketball is top 10 in a lot of places, even ones that has decent talent. When Germany won world cup, we discussed a German journalist poll from few years back, where germans listed most popular sports of theirs, and I think Basketball was 18th... They are world champions of Basketball.

I mean if we talk team sports, Basketball probably makes top three in a lot of countries, but overall, F1, Tennis are just few that come to mind that would be far more popular in most places.

Basketball is the second biggest sport in most countries in the world. F1 and Tennis are just popular in rich countries, people in most countries don't care about those """""sports"""" (I don't consider F1 a sport). Basketball is the biggest team sport in China by a pretty large margin, it's a religion in the philippines and is the fastest growing sport in most countries in the world. Technically, Basketball is the third biggest sport in the world with Cricket being slightly more popular because of how populous India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, but it's expected to overtake cricket and cement itself as #2 in the world soon.

I'm from Canada and Basketball is possibly the biggest sport with the canadian youth because of recent growth in the sport. Hockey is still king of course, but social media has propelled Basketball so much around the world.

I want to believe all that, but I am not sure. I am from Lithuania, and over here it is the most popular sport by far, we and Philippines and maybe Lebanon where only 3 countries on the planet where basketball trully was or still is a religion, but in some other Euro places, it can easily be behind Regby, Handball or Ice Hockey. It is a niche. I raved today how quality Euroleague is now, and they obviously sold out at least OAKA arena yesterday, but when you look at actual financial and operational situation of Euroleague, it doesn't match the quality of players at all. It is still very much a niche.

My hope is China, so we could at least on number bypass the Cricket thing Its a thing that seem to only exist in UK and its East colonies, but damn these punjabis love cricket. I remember reading Indian sports forum around 2009, and someone mentioned Basketball. Obviously Basketball is not a thing in India, but they said that sometimes, girls played Basketball in Highschool and it was perceived as strictly girl sport.

[UcanUwill]

I played both sports in highschool.

He's 100% correct.

Basketball takes actual skill. Football is skills as well, but you can get away with less skill in football because you're basically running and tackling for the most part.

If you can't dribble or shoot what exactly can you do in basketball?

Yep.

NFL = way better athletes but the nba dudes are 100x more skilled. Like, not even close. Any football player would play basketball if they chose for obvious reasons. If an NFL player could transition to NbA they would in a heartbeat. There is a reason why this has never happened. Rivers is spot on

How much NFL players make compared to NBA? Obviously, I imagine they would rather play in the NBA due to sport, how much safer it is comparably, also training for the NBA seems a bit more fun at least, I hate strength training... but what about actual money?