nbanfldeg wrote:The biggest issue for the NFL players switching to the NBA is the height differences. Unless the NFL players have above-average ball-handling skills, they won't be able to make it in the league as wing players/guards. Not many are tall enough to be big men.
Think of an athletic freak like Myles Garrett. He's listed at 6'4", which he could MAYBE get away with as a SF, but what would his role be? Maybe some of the taller NFL players (6'5"/6'6" guys) could play PF as their strength could help them on the boards boxing out.
As for NBA players, guards can be thrown around at WR, CB, TE as 6'1"-6'4" athletes. They'd have the learning curve of understanding everything but they're not at that immediate size disadvantage like NFL players. A guy like Marcus Smart/PJ Tucker can probably be RBs, Safeties, or LBs with their builds too. Imagine Kenny Lofton if he focused on football. A lot more feasible transitions for NBA to NFL.
A different Kenny Lofton (not the current player) was a two sport star in basketball and baseball. He played and started a lot of games for the Sean Elliott era University of Arizona basketball team, was a rotation player on a Final Four team and a starter for a Sweet 16 team. He then went on play major league baseball for 17 seasons (6x all-star and 4x gold glove center fielder).