NBA Players Who Could Be Crossover Athletes
Millions of kids dream of playing professional basketball for a living, but some NBA players have dreamed of greatness in a different sport entirely.
For a variety of reasons, whether geography, indecisiveness or all-around athletic prowess, these NBAersโincluding LeBron James, Luol Deng and Karl-Anthony Townsโhave honed their talents in other sports as well.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Baseball
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The Minnesota Timberwolves spent the first pick of the 2015 NBA draft on Karl-Anthony Towns, seizing the dynamic big man out of Kentucky. But before his college days, Towns was just a youth baseball player in Piscataway, New Jersey.
As Towns told PIX11's Jay Dow: โI quit basketball in seventh grade to be a baseball star. Playing in Piscataway All Star League, Babe Ruth and AAU.โ It also helped that his dad was the baseball coach, but Towns' baseball ability speaks to his natural athleticism and coordination.
Luol Deng, Soccer
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As Miami Heat forward Luol Deng told ESPN FC's Luis Arroyave in 2007: "I always wanted to be a soccer player. That was my first love. ... But I had this growth spurt where I became taller than everyone. It just made more sense [to play basketball]."
The decision proved fortuitous for the 6'9" Deng, who warranted the seventh pick in the 2004 draft and established his quality and hard work during 10 seasons with the Chicago Bulls. He was an All-Star in 2012 and 2013, when he also led the NBA in minutes played, hovering around 39 per game.
Now, Deng's soccer playing is confined to the likes of Steve Nash's charity soccer game, but that sport bred Deng's competitiveness and honed his athleticism despite very meager circumstances.
He told Arroyave: "I was born in Sudan, and grew up in Egypt and then England. We would play with balls made of socks or put a towel over a balloon and wrap duct tape around it. We used a tennis ball a lot too. Only in big games did we use a soccer ball."
Glen Davis, Football
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Calling Glen Davis "Big Baby" is somewhat misleading, as "Enormous" or "Humongous Baby" would be more accurate to describe the 6'9", 289-pounder. And the scary part is that Davis was even bigger when he played football in high school. As in, big enough to bodyslamย Shaquille O'Neal at the tender age of 15.
As noted by theย New York Times' Thayer Evans in a 2007 article, Davis was 6'6" and 345 pounds in high school. Old video highlights showcase his array of talents on the gridiron, which included:
"โฆ hurdling a defender on a 20-yard touchdown run, sacking quarterbacks, catching passes and blocking for a tailback. He even makes a nimble spin move to shake a defender off his ankles on a 17-yard run.
"For a very large man, heโs incredibly nifty," said Wayne Williams, who coached Davis in football during his sophomore and junior years [at Baton Rouge's University Laboratory High School].
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Unfortunately, Davis' nickname is unlikely to change from "Big Baby" to "Incredibly Nifty" anytime soon.
Leandro Barbosa, Soccer
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For Brazilians like Leandro Barbosa, there is soccer, followed by a substantial chasm, followed by all other sports. Growing up in Sao Paulo, the Golden State Warriors guard was raised on a steady diet of Sport Club Corinthians, the city's subversive and wildly popular soccer club.
As Barbosa told Boston.com's Frank Dell'Apa: "My father was Corinthiano and from the time I was born, we had the bandera [flag] of the team and we went to the Pacaembu stadium. Even now, many Corinthians players are my friends. [Emerson] Sheik is a great friend, a super amigo. We are always together."
But Barbosa balanced basketball and soccer growing up, and he found that the skills transferred over, saying: "I always talk about soccer and basketball in terms of vision and facilitating passes and how that happens. At the same time, you get the timing, you gauge the distances, the angles of passes, when to defend, when to attack. You learn a lot from soccer and it makes basketball easier."
In fact, if it weren't for soccer honing his court vision, Barbosa might never have cracked the NBA.
Matt Barnes, Football
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Back when he attended Del Campo High School in Sacramento, California, Memphis Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes was a star on both the basketball and football teams. As noted by the Los Angeles Times' Mark Medina, the school retired his jersey in 2011 to honor the young man who "compiled All-American, all-state, all-CIF, all-city and all-league honors during both his prep basketball and football days."
Even once he had become an NBA player, Barnes still contemplated playing pro football in 2006, having his agent put out feelers to NFL teams for a tryout when he had not yet signed an NBA contract that summer. The Golden State Warriors eventually snapped him up for that season, and nine years later Barnes is coming off three seasons as a useful role player with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Now his time on the gridiron is limited to celebrity flag football with Snoop Dogg.
Pat Connaughton, Baseball
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Another 2015 NBA draftee comes at least partly from a baseball background, but his talents on the pitching mound are perhaps too strong for his current NBA team's liking. The Brooklyn Nets selected Notre Dame's Pat Connaughton with the 41st pick and subsequently traded his rights to the Portland Trail Blazers, with whom he signed a three-year contract.
The only issue is that Connaughton is also part of the Baltimore Orioles farm system, having debuted in 2014 with the Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, throwing a fastball that reportedly touched 96 mph.
Understandably, Blazers general manager Neil Olshey is less than thrilled by the prospect of Connaughton trying to play two professional sports, which he told NBA.comโs Ian Thomsen is "not happening"โat least not right now:
"The conversation we had with Pat prior to all of this was you're an NBA player now. Being an NBA player is not a part-time job. The time when Pat would be going to play baseball is a time when you're working on your game and getting better. You see how valuable July is. During the development phase, when you're a second-round pick in the NBA and you have a ways to go to have a translatable skill-set in our league, you need Summer League. ... Now, look, if he gets into a second contract down the road and that is something he wants to pursue, then that can be a discussion point.
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To quote Jim Carrey: "So, you're telling me there's a chance."
Joel Embiid, Soccer and Volleyball
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After being drafted with the third pick in 2014, Joel Embiid has yet to play a game for the Philadelphia 76ers due to fractures in his back and foot, and fans should set their sights on 2016-17 to see his debut.
Embiid has suffered successive setbacks, but the big man from Cameroon has already enjoyed an unforeseen journey to the NBA. He played volleyball and soccer in his home country and only switched to basketball in 2011.
Invited to a local basketball camp because of his height, Cameroon native and NBA player Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was coaching at the camp and immediately took notice of the 17-year-old Embiid's skills, saying via Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal,ย "Those were moves that guys who had been playing for years were making."
If not for Mbah a Moute scouting Embiid as a matter of happenstance, the youngster just might have become the tallest soccer player on the circuit. Grantland's Jordan Ritter Conn visited Embiid's hometown of Yaounde, located in a nation with only two indoor basketball courts, and relayed:ย "Even as the game has grown, hardly any boys in Cameroon grow up playing basketball. ... 'Think about all the kids weโre missing,' says Francois Enyegue, coach at the University of Yaounde. 'The only people who play are people who coaches find.'"
LeBron James, Football
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With his frightening blend of size, speed, athleticism and quick-fire decision-making, Cleveland Cavaliers hero LeBron James would likely excel at virtually any sport he played. His hulking frame has drawn comparisons to a football player, and he could easily line up as an uncoverable tight end, an unblockable defensive end or a havoc-wreaking linebackers.
But in high school at St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio, the coaches called for LeBron to be a wide receiver. He's probably a bit too bulky for that now (6'8", 250 lbs), so it's good that he quit football after his junior year to focus on becoming the greatest basketball player on the planet.
Kevin Durant, (Flag) Football
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Oklahoma City Thunder superstar and former MVP Kevin Durant may have suffered the "Curse of the Based God," but he's likely to break out of the funk if he can rehab his foot. If not, he could try to revive his skill in another sport, even if it's an uphill battle.
Durant's brief forays on the baseball diamond have been utterly forgettable, even to him. He was asked by ESPN's Sam Alipour in 2009, "Did you play anything besides basketball?"
Durant seemed to have repressed the memory of his days as a baseball player, responding:ย "That's all I played growing up. Actually, you know what? At Oak Hill [Academy in Virginia] I played baseball for about three gamesโfirst base. And I was bad. Really bad. It just wasn't for me. I wanted to try something new for once, but it wasn't for me at all. Seriously, I think I struck out every time I went to bat."
In case you thought Durant was merely being humble, he proved his bumbling baseball skills by whiffing on a routine pop-up during a celebrity softball game. But practice makes perfect, and even Michael Jordan rounded into a respectable baseball player during his stint in the minors. If not, Durant can always take it easy on his foot and fall back on his prowess in flag football.
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