(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Recently, former NBA player Austin Rivers caught a lot of heat for his comments.
He claimed that there were 30 or 40 NBA players who could play in the NFL, but there weren’t 30 NFL players who could play in the NBA.
Needless to say, it didn’t take long before he faced some backlash for that.
Even Charles Barkley, who admittedly has nothing but love for him, had to take some time on the air to call him out, affirming that football was “a grown man sport” and that NBA players couldn’t handle it.
Unsurprisingly, Shaquille O’Neal didn’t agree with Chuck, and he stated that NBA players could play in the NFL (via NBA on TNT and ClutchPoints).
Chuck: “Austin Rivers, we can’t play football.”
Shaq: “Yeah we can…I dare you to stand up right now and I’m gonna tackle you.”
The Inside guys are torn
(via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com/p2wuLVahNI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 9, 2024
Perhaps the truth is somewhere in between.
Countless NBA players grew up playing football and vice versa, and some athletic traits translate to both sports.
LeBron James could’ve found success in the NFL, and the same goes for Allen Iverson.
At the end of the day, both sports are complicated, and it takes a lot of preparation and mastery of the craft.
Both have to spend hours dissecting film, and while NBA players endure a beating for 82 regular-season games plus playoffs, football is the most physical sport there is.
So, until we find a guy who actually makes it to both leagues, just like Deion Sanders did with the NFL and MLB, we’ll never know for sure.
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