Remaking a new topic from years ago. Look let me get this straight, some NFL athletes are absurdly insane in athleticism. No one is beating Tyreek Hill in terms of explosiveness and speed. But am I wrong to say, that NBA players have the higher ceiling? Like if money and long term health weren’t a concern, if NBA players focused on training their bodies on prepping for football, their ceiling would be so much higher. Instead of Kyle Pitts we have KD at tight-end on the falcons, instead of Megatron on the Lions we have LeBron James on the Browns, 3 inches taller. I’m not saying they WOULD be better. But they have the POTENTIAL to be better, their ceiling is higher. Apparently this is a wild take. NBA players are tall, fast, and leap as high as a lot of NFL players.
NFL players are typically better athletes, though I think a lot of NBA players could make the jump if they had that type of training. Same with NFL players and the skill it would have taken to make the NBA.
JJ Barea in the slot. Unstoppable.
David njoku could probably be a nice 3 and d wing
KD at tight-end on the falcons
I would hope KD has a good insurance policy cause every bone in his body would turn into dust the moment he attempted to catch a ball over the middle.
The KD example OP brought up is just baffling lol. Out of all 500 or so current NBA players who could potentially contribute to an NFL team, KD would be among the last on my list. Just the completely wrong body type. He’d get killed even as a rarely deployed red zone specialist.
To be fair, the Falcons barely throw to Pitts
Can kd run deep? If not he getting smashed on check downs
None of them can touch some of those pro footballers (i.e. soccer). When I watch pro footballers at their peak, i.e. the World Cup, I feel like I am watching gods with superhuman abilities. The sheer full-body machine at work in most acrobatic and intensely strong maneuvering, some of those kicks that flip the whole body into the air like a whale jumping out of the water, that’s where I see the most impressive displays of athleticism.
Troll right?
I can honestly say I didn’t expect the reaction this comment got. Wow.
I’m really sorry I didn’t mean to offend anyone, just trying to participate. I feel really bad, I’m really sorry.
We’re talking about sports here
Hard disagree. Soccer is way more about skill and stamina than explosive athleticism.
The most athletic soccer players would be put to shame by top NFL athletes if they were competing in sprints, vertical leaps, or strength measurements.
Soccer players would annihilate most NFL players in a longer distance race, though.
KD at tight-end on the falcons
You seen the hits Gronk used to take right? KD would take one hit and never get up again.
But back to the point, I think they both require very different types of athletes. For one, the NFL is a specialist sport - linemen for example do one very specific job, which requires them to be huge, wide and extremely strong and durable.
A random NFL lineman would out-lift basically any NBA player in history in squat, deadlift and bench - but would have nowhere near the vertical or speed as your average NBA player. Obviously there are outliers to this, your freak athletes and so on.
Very hard to compare completely different sports.
👆🏽this is the answer. Athletes come in many shapes, sizes, and skils
Football players are definitely more athletic. Basketball separates itself by both requiring height as well as skill.
In football if you’re simply more athletic than everyone else at every level you will at least make the NFL.
NFL players are better athletes at every height range, besides maybe the ones that include a lot of QB’s or kickers.
Comparing athletic performances between heights in those sports doesn’t really work because once you get into the average nba height you are talking comparing linemen to some of the best athletes in the nba
Linemen are also better athletes than NBA players are the same height. You have to consider that lineman are doing what they’re doing at 300+ lbs.
Like the fact that these guys are 320 lbs with a 36 inch vertical is hard to put into words. I don’t think there’s a single player in the NBA besides Zion who could do it.
And that’s what it is really. The guys in the NFL are just Zion at every height range. Just about the limit of how strong you can get while still being able to outrun or outjump anyone remotely close to your size.
Ain’t nobody in the NBA blocking Aaron Donald
I would say NFL players are stronger. Athleticism varies player to player, and both games require different skills.
NBA games have less and shorter breaks than football, so NBA players have to exert more energy per game.
I’d still give a slight edge win to NFL players even with my biases towards American football. It’s kind of a dumb game. It’s like turn-based rugby. And make competitive catch less dangerous.
Your KD and Bron comments show the crazy lack of understanding people have on this topic.
KD is nearly 7 foot tall and built like a stick. Literally every defensive player in the NFL could stick a hand in his chest and stop him getting off the line of scrimmage, and that’s before thinking about how injured he’d get after a couple of hits.
You compare LeBron with Calvin Johnson, but Calvin was stronger than LeBron and mikes faster (a 4.4 runner vs LeBron running what, a 4.8?)
Football players are, on average, faster, stronger, better jumpers and more explosive than basketball players. There are dudes in the NFL who are almost Olympic level in track and field, I can’t think of 3 NBA players who were even track and field stars in high school.
Making the NBA is way, way, way harder than making the NFL because you have to be able to master a tough skill (shooting a basketball), but as far as pure athleticism goes the NFL clears.
Zion is considered one of the freakiest athletes in NBA history, yet almost every NFL team has a defensive end who’s built like him while carrying more muscle on their frame and can run faster.
I don’t really follow football, but wouldn’t the average NFL DB basically be considered a freak athlete in the NBA in terms of explosiveness? Think Nate Robinson or Russell Westbrook. Doubt any of them have the basketball skills to play PG/SG at the NBA level cause they’d be better off financially and healthwise sitting on an NBA bench for multiple seasons.
Many NBA players have above a 40” running vert. You can check DraftExpress
It’s entirely different. Highest paid players in the NFL are quarterbacks and none of them are even making a G league team.
I think the easiest way to look at is if a guy is good enough to play both he’s choosing the NBA everytime.
The best athletes in sports or NFL DE and OLB. The size, strength, and speed combination is unmatched.
Your typical NBA guard if they have the aggression would be better than the skill positions except QB, because throwing is a unique skill. Usually QBs are also baseball players.
A typical nba guard + aggression would not be a better athlete than db or receiver, football players are way stronger & more explosive. The nfl record for vertical leap is 45 inches & that’s true standing vert barely any nba players ever had had a 40 inch standing vert, when they meantion nba players vert it’s with a running start.
It all matters on the frame of reference.
I think it’s a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, kind of. Also, I just had the thought of like, the combined value of personnel requirement vs phenotype/archetype. It’s more common for a dude to be built like a bear versus a giraffe.
But then it could be, in my mind at least, that basketball is a sport that seems to have more weirdos per capita than football. So maybe add natural demeanor/inclination to that combination factor.
Both are super blue collar sports at their bones, but it’s like art kids vs woodshop kids. Obviously there are lots of exceptions and outliers. And, obviously I am mildly stoned and talking out of my butt.
NFL players by far. Only the strongest, fastest NBA players like Lebron and Ant could maybe play in the NFL.
nah in terms of body/athleticism a lot of guys could play positions like qb, wr