CNN
—
LeBron James has accomplished almost everything he can in the NBA. But if it had been just a moment, it might have been a completely different story.
James is known as an avid NFL fan, appearing at games involving his hometown Cleveland Browns over the years, but during the 2011 NBA lockout, he decided to switch from the griddle to the hardwood. I was definitely considering it.
“We didn’t know when we were going to be able to make a deal with the owners and get back in the league,” James said on Wednesday’s episode of “New Heights,” a podcast hosted by brothers Jason and Travis Kelce of Super Bowl champions. spoke. “So, I actually thought about it a little bit at the time.
“I was still young enough to go out with you guys. That’s the only time I seriously thought about it. I’ve always had serious dreams about this shit. And in my dreams, the ball never I didn’t get kicked out. It’s me warming up, it’s me coming out and running routes, and as soon as the game starts I wake up and shit. Then I’m there. It turns out you shouldn’t.”
James is one of the greatest players in basketball history, but before being drafted into the NBA in 2003, he was a star at the high school level in both football and hoops.
He led St. Vincent St. Louis. At Mary High School, he won three basketball state championships while also playing wide receiver and was named to the state’s first team his sophomore year.
Before entering the NBA Draft, James recalled that then-Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel tried to scout him as a two-sport athlete, making him the target of offers from some of the biggest names in college football. It also became. He was also courted by Urban Meyer, according to ESPN.
“When I got to school (St. Vincent and St. Mary High School), the coach, Jim Meyer, who was a great guy, I think it was 1998 or 1999, he said, “Hey. , come here for a second. I would like to show you this. Urban Meyer said, according to ESPN. “I started watching the video and thought, ‘Oh my god.’ He was 6 feet tall, but he was definitely bigger back then.
“He asked me what I thought and I said, ‘I’d like to make him an offer right now. “Who is he?” he continued, hoping to recruit James to Notre Dame, where Meyer was the wide receivers coach at the time.
In the end, James chose a career involving hoops rather than goal lines, but apparently the idea was always on his mind.
When asked who he thinks he could have compared himself to if he had chosen the NFL, James highlighted a few legends.
“I’m probably somewhere between (four-time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski) and Randy Moss, but he’s a lot smaller than me,” the 40-year-old explained. “He runs a lot faster than me, but he’s a lot smaller than me. But like Megatron (all-pro and three-time first-team wide receiver Calvin Johnson), he’s a lot faster than me in terms of size. (All-Pro tight end and six-time first-teamer) Tony Gonzalez also played basketball with his size and size, so he’s the goalpost. I loved the celebration of the dunk.”
James’ football skills in high school led many to suggest that he might have had a successful career in the NFL if he had gone that route.
And when asked if it was more difficult to go from the NBA to the NFL or vice versa, James said he would think about it for a second.
“What I’m saying is, I think it’s easier for a basketball player to try to make it to the NFL than it is for an NFL player to try to make it to the NBA,” he said. “And I also know that we have great athletes. … (If) NBA players decide to play in the NFL, yeah, there’s going to be a transition period. For me, it’s about getting hit again. It would have been something to get used to.
“I remember when I was in high school, playing basketball and AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) ball during the summer, and then in the fall I had to get used to being hit again. The first few practices with the shoulder pads and helmet on are the most important, and getting hit again is the most important.
“When football becomes basketball, it requires more coordination, more running, more jumping, more consistency,” he added, at the same time that current NBA players Russell Westbrook or Anthony Edwards are moving to the NFL. He also said it would be the most successful.
