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LeBron James: Easier for NBA Player to Try NFL Career amid Debate on Changing Sports

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Football

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFootball X.com LogoFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 15, 2025

Football HOUSTON, TX - JANUARY 5: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers warms up before the game against the Houston Rockets on January 5, 2025 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Kevin M.Cox/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kevin M.Cox/NBAE via Getty Images

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James weighed in on a long-running debate and asserted he the transition from basketball to football would be easier than the other way around.

“I want to say that I think it’s easier for a basketball player to try NFL over the NFL player trying to get in the NBA,” he said at the 23-minute mark in the newest episode of the Kelce brothers’ New Heights podcast. “… (If) an NBA guy decides to go play in the NFL, yes it’s going to take a transition period. For me, it would’ve been like getting used to getting hit again.”

James, who played football and basketball in high school, said it was “like riding a bike” when he’d pivot from playing AAU to suiting up for football practice. He’d eventually settle back into a groove on the field.

“Football going to basketball, it’s such more coordination and running and jumping, consistent,” the four-time MVP said, contrasting the constant motion in basketball with the stop-and-start nature of football.

Asked about which NBA players would be best suited to thrive in the NFL, James cited Denver Nuggets star Russell Westbrook and Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. He compared Westbrook to Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James.

While obviously didn’t play in the NFL, James is reasonably well positioned to weigh in because he was a football standout at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School along with being the best basketball player in the country for his age.

The Checkdown @thecheckdown

LeBron’s high school football coach thinks LBJ would’ve been one of the NFL greats ???????? @KingJames @STVMFootball

(via @MoveTheSticks) pic.twitter.com/viV7Mmjj4I

James also said that then-Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel recruited him to be a dual-sport athlete prior to him entering the NBA draft after his senior high school season.

Despite never playing the college game, the Lakers star also told the Kelces that he thought about an NFL career “a little bit” during the 2011 NBA lockout that lasted 161 days and included a flag football game between he and Kevin Durant.

The 6’9″ forward also possesses the physical tools that would’ve seemingly helped him thrive on the gridiron if that’s the career path he had chosen.

The NFL stars who once dabbled in basketball might have something to say, though, to push back on James’ argument.

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