Davante Adams Thinks LeBron James Would Have Been All-Time Great in NFL

That's high praise from Adams.
Davante Adams, a wide receiver for the Rams, is confident LeBron James would have done well in the NFL.
Davante Adams, a wide receiver for the Rams, is confident LeBron James would have done well in the NFL. / The Dan Patrick Show / YouTube / Screenshot

If you talk with any football or basketball player long enough, the conversation will likely err toward one age-old debate in particular: Could a hooper play on the gridiron, and vice versa?

It's an interesting thought experiment, considering professional athletes do often have backgrounds in other sports. Indeed, many stars—like NBA great LeBron James—grew up playing both basketball and football, but ultimately needed to choose one. So it's fun to imagine what a player could have been if he opted for a different route, or unexpectedly dropped his current game for the other.

Much has been said of LeBron in particular, given his passion for the NFL as well as his football prowess in high school. The topic even came up again on Wednesday, when Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams made an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show .

"He would've been one of the best receivers, tight ends of all time," Adams told Patrick, when asked what kind of football player No. 23 would make. "No question. I don't know if you've ever seen him play football ... he can fly, too, that's the thing. He's one of the fastest NBA players, probably of all time. I've never seen someone cover space on a basketball court [like him], maybe John Wall or Derrick Rose, something like that. But he's up there with all of 'em."

Adams did concede that the way Bron "acts on the court sometimes" doesn't inspire confidence that he could take a football-level hit, but added, "I do think it's a little bit strategy in there. I don't think he's actually banged up every time."

Watch that answer below starting at 9:17:

It's a fun hypothetical, considering how one of the basketball greats might fare. Quick, someone build a time machine—maybe we can find out.


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Brigid Kennedy
BRIGID KENNEDY

Brigid Kennedy is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, she covered political news, sporting news and culture at TheWeek.com before moving to Livingetc, an interior design magazine. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, dual majoring in television, radio and film (from the Newhouse School of Public Communications) and marketing managment (from the Whitman School of Management). Offline, she enjoys going to the movies, reading and watching the Steelers.