NBA Stars Who Would've Been Great in Other Sports

Some of the greatest athletes in the world play in the NBA, but what other sports could they have dominated?

Basketball allows you to excel on raw physical ability more than any other game. Between their speed, strength, agility, dexterity and leaping ability, NBAers have complete and varied skill sets that are tailor-made for just about any feat of athleticism.

So which ballers would fare best on a gridiron or a soccer pitch? And who has the mental makeup and technical soundness to excel at less physically demanding sports?

Dozens of NBA players could qualify here, so let's focus on an exclusive group of no-brainers and particularly entertaining options.

Tony Allen: Mixed Martial Arts

It takes a very special basketball player to make the leap from the hardwood to the octagon.

It takes someone who craves contact. It takes someone willing and able to go with full intensity through the entire round. It takes someone who won't take grit from anybody.

To put it bluntly, it takes Tony Allen.

Obviously he'll fight with more of a brawler's approach than that of a true mixed martial artist until he learns some technique. Fortunately, he has plenty of strength and resilience in his 6'4" frame to grind out bouts with that style for now.

In the meantime, let's get him started with some Brazilian jiu-jitsu lessons and check back in a couple months.

Andrew Bynum: Bowling

No NBA player has been as committed to his bowling game as Andrew Bynum.

The young star center spent all of last season attempting to recover from severe injuries to both knees. With the Philadelphia 76ers desperately awaiting his return and free agency looming on the horizon, Bynum had every incentive in the world to get healthy and return to the floor.

Instead, the 25-year-old's passion for ten-pin proved too great.

Brian Windhorst and Chris Broussard of ESPN reported in November that the rehabbing Bynum injured his left knee further while bowling. Though not prohibited by his contract, the patient had to know that his recreational pursuit could potentially ruin his NBA career. Yet he rolled on undeterred.

If Bynum's Sundays truly are for bowling, he should chase his dream. Otherwise, his head-scratching setback will live on in satirical Internet lore.

LeBron James: Football

Of course basketball's greatest physical specimen would play the most physically demanding, popular sport.

In fact, LeBron James was a legendary high school football player. Per Tim Graham of ESPN, Mark Murphy, the St. Vincent-St. Mary defensive coordinator when LeBron was there, said the NBA superstar could have been one of the greatest wideouts of all time.

"I've been around a lot of great receivers," Murphy said. "I tell people that I rate my top receivers—coaching, playing or watching—as James Lofton, Jerry Rice, Steve Largent and LeBron James."

That's insane praise for any high schooler. Now that James is a 6'8", 250-pound superman who can run like a deer, freight-train through defenders and jump out of a stadium, it's not quite so far-fetched.

Then again, LeBron could succeed at just about anything he puts his mind and body to. The wide receiver position would simply allow him to put his physical gifts to their best use.

Tony Parker: Soccer

Had the San Antonio Spurs finished off the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, we'd still be talking about Tony Parker's acrobatic heroics instead of Ray Allen's clutch make.

What we saw on that broken, beautiful play was a man with full control over himself and the ball. Parker dissected the defense and probed through it, protecting his possession in nearly nonexistent spaces before converting through the tightest of windows.

It's that type of performance that makes Parker seem like a natural for footy.

The same mentality that the Frenchman takes to the point guard position would suit him wonderfully on the pitch. Imagine Parker weaving through the midfield, deking out defenders and drawing attention before finding a streaking teammate in open space.

After all, soccer is the sport that best resembles the San Antonio Spurs' selflessness and ball movement. Parker has what it takes to orchestrate the attack in both.

J.R. Smith: BASE Jumping

Let's take a minute to talk about BASE jumping.

An offshoot of skydiving, BASE jumping requires the participant to leap from a fixed object and into a free-fall before ultimately deploying a parachute to land. As opposed to leaping from a plane, BASE jumpers are falling much shorter distances, but much closer to potential obstacles and to smaller landing areas, making it more dangerous.

This seems like just the sport for J.R. Smith.

BASE jumping requires two things: body control and irrational confidence. Smith has both of those in spades.

In fact, the preposterous degree of difficulty and margin of error, coupled with the odd sense of assurance that Smith would totally nail this, makes this all the more appropriate.

Josh Smith: Hockey

So this has nothing to do with Josh Smith's ability to ice skate. We don't know whether he can or can't, but we'll get him some training just to be safe. Maybe we can one-stop-shop with Tony Allen's jiu-jitsu teacher. Probably not, though.

That said, think about how the new Detroit Pistons forward would operate on the blue line.

He's 6'9", weighs 225 pounds and would be eager to deliver some hip checks if it were legal. As a hockey defenseman, not only would his physicality be put to best use, he would also actually help his team by taking long-range shots rather than hurt it.

It's a win-win considering his greatest strength and his worst weakness. And considering his size, you could imagine Smith unleashing a howitzer from the point.

In this hypothetical, Smith is basically a younger, faster version of Zdeno Chara. As soon as he can take to the ice, he should get right on this.

Nikola Pekovic: Bull Riding

Bull riding requires a cowboy to get on the beast's back, literally dig in his spurs and hold on for dear life; one slip and you'll get thrown like a rag doll. Nikola Pekovic would hardly need a foothold.

Though he's got a high center of gravity for rodeo at just under seven-feet tall, but he's an absolute load and he has hands like meat hooks. Once Pek grabs on to a bull, it would take a mammoth effort to shake him.

The bull would have the advantage that he is more susceptible to back and knee injuries because of his height. However, he is nearly twice as heavy as your average cowboy, and those 290 pounds are all muscle.

He may not have the traditional frame for the sport, but Pek is as much of a bull as anything he would ride.

Rajon Rondo: Tennis

Finesse and defensive play are the prevailing style in tennis today, and Rajon Rondo has the body and agility to pull it off.

Like Rafael Nadal or David Ferrer, Rondo has the speed and cutting ability to patrol the baseline and make plays all over the court. Additionally, his insane 6'10" wingspan will allow him to reach balls others could not and return them at otherwise impossible angles.

That last point is key. One of Rondo's best attributes as a point guard is his ability to thread passes through lanes other players wouldn't even see. His freakish arms would allow him to take that next-level play to the tennis court.

The U.S. has been searching for its next great tennis player for years now. Maybe he's in the NBA right now.

Russell Westbrook: Baseball

As long as he can handle a bat, Russell Westbrook has the ability to be a five-tool shortstop.

The deliberate pace of baseball actually works to the advantage of an erratic talent like Westbrook.

Whereas the point guard position forces him to handle many responsibilities at once as he ping-pongs between offense and defense, he would only have to focus on fielding when he was at short, stealing when he was on base and spraying the ball around when he was at the plate.

With everything compartmentalized, Westbrook would be able to thrive. He has the range and arm of a Gold Glover and the straight-line speed to be among the league leaders in stolen bases.

At that point, it would suffice if he could just find the gaps and let his legs do the work, but Westbrook has the strength to muscle the ball out of the park if he hones his swing.

The technique, of course, would need work, but there's a ton of raw talent there.