The Junkies debate which NBA players could actually cross over into the NFL

Austin Rivers made a bold claim that NBA players could make it in the NFL but not vice versa…and while sure, you could maybe see a guy like LeBron succeeding as a tight end, as the Junkies have in the past, surely there are football players who can hoop at that level, no?

“I know what Micah Parsons can’t do: he can't go on a pitcher's mound and deliver a good pitch, because both he and CJ Stroud threw nubbers when they were in Japan,” Cakes laughed, mentioning Parsons’ and Stroud’s world tour of doing other sports stuff.

That tout is what led to Rivers’ comments, where he said he could find ‘30 guys in the NBA who could make an NFL roster, but there aren't guys in the NFL who could play in the NBA.’

“Thirty seems like it might be a stretch – one per team?” Cake said.

“There's no chance NBA players could just go to the NFL and make it, unless they had a football background,” Bish said. “Just because Anthony Edwards is a physical freak doesn't mean he can go on an NFL field and play receiver.”

JJ Watt sniped back at Rivers, which Cakes especially loved, but EB is kinda team Rivers?

“That 30 might be the wrong number, but more guys in the NBA could make the transition to the NFL than NFL guys could make the transition to the NBA,” EB said. “They could play tight end or something.”

“I tend to believe that too,” Cakes said.

“If you have background in that sport, I would say, yeah, they have a shot, but Anthony Edwards is probably the most athletic player – but it doesn't mean he can go run routes,” Bish shot back.

Antonio Gates, for one, played college hoops and became a Hall of Fame tight end, but…

“Could Allen Iverson, who was a great high school quarterback, have played in the NFL?” Bish asked. “He could have played college football maybe, but the NFL?”

JP posited after watching Dallas-OKC that a lot of NBA players are too skinny, and it seems like Drabby is feeling it.

“There's just not a lot of positions that that they could translate,” Drab said. “Great athletes excel in the NFL more so than probably any sport. I mean, you can't just pick up basketball at the age of 22 and be any good. It takes a lifetime of developing.”

It seems like having a background is really the defining factor

“I'm team JJ Watt on this one. I think that there might be a couple of guys, but I feel like the guys are so skinny, and like Drab says, there's only so many positions,” was JP’s ultimate conclusion.

Take a listen to the entire discussion above!