Davante Adams said LeBron would be an NFL GOAT, but these players played both

There seems to be an endless debate between football players and basketball players. Can NFL players transition to NBA stars, and vice versa? Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams says there is one NBA player who would have been the greatest ever had he chose the gridiron over the hardwood.

NBA vs. NFL the endless debate

A lot of football players think basketball players are too soft to play in the NFL. A lot of NBA players think the NFL players don’t have the skill set to translate to the top level of basketball. Davante put down the proverbial gloves, and touted LeBron James as a hypothetical GOAT, had he played football professionally instead of basketball.

While talking to Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show, Adams who has been named an NFL All-Pro First Teamer three times, said that LeBron, “Would have been one of the best wide receivers or tight ends of all time. No question.”

LeBron did play tight end for his high school team St. Vincent St. Mary. He played two years of varsity football, and scored 27 TDs as a tight end before dedicating all of his time to basketball. In the end, it all worked out for LeBron considering he is a four time NBA Champion, the league’s all-time leading scorer, and considered one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Graham, Gates and Ward the pioneers

LeBron skipping college to go right to the NBA prevented him from being tempted by any college football coaches to try and play both sports like many NFL and NBA players have done. Since no one has played in the NBA and NFL since Bud Grant more than 70 years ago, we don’t have any up to date comparisons, but Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates both played basketball in college before going on to having successful careers as tight ends in the NFL.

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Graham was a role player for the Miami Hurricanes, playing all four seasons for “The U” but never averaging more than 6 ppg and 5 rpg. Antonio Gates had more realistic shot of getting to the NBA, averaging 20.6 ppg, 7.7 rebounds and 4.1 apg in his second of two years at the University of Kent.

No one has as much of a say in this debate than Charlie Ward. Ward won the Heisman Trophy with Florida State tasing for 3,032 yards, 27 TDs and just 4 INTs while leading the Seminoles to a National Title. That same year, Ward averaged 10.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, and 4.9 apg before being taken by the New York Knicks in the 1994 NBA Draft. Ward spent ten years in the league, most of them in the Big Apple cementing himself as one of the most legendary two way players of all time.