Every NFL star wants to think they could play in the NBA. And every NBA star (or at least LeBron James) wants to think they have a shot on the gridiron. It's just the natural order of the NFL-NBA relationship.
But Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum doesn't necessarily see it that way.
Asked during this week's episode of New Heights whether he believes an NBA star could play professional football, Tatum said he thinks it's possible, but only if that player had enough time to prepare and train.
"Like the guys that get on TV and be like, 'You could just take this guy from the NBA and throw him in the game this Sunday,' it's like, no, it does not work like that," Tatum said on the podcast released Wednesday.
"There are a handful of guys that play in the NBA that if they had an entire summer or a year to train and prepare, could they make an impact? For sure," he said. "But just drop a guy from the NBA and throw him in the game? No shot."
But as for whether he thinks there is an NFL player who could train for a year and then play in the NBA, Tatum was a bit less optimistic—which had Jason Kelce positively cracking up.
"So listen. I have so much—" Tatum began, before Kelce sensed where he was going and burst out laughing. "I got so much respect for you guys and what you guys do," he went on. But "there's nothing funnier than watching football guys play basketball, I'll say that."
"There's always a video that comes up on Twitter of somebody in the NFL, their high school [basketball] highlights ... and it's like, 'He could've been ...' and it's like, nah. I think they chose the right sport," he added, to laughs from both Kelce brothers.
Watch that back-and-forth below:
“There’s nothing funnier than watching football guys play basketball”
— New Heights (@newheightshow) March 26, 2025
We had to get @jaytatum0 to weigh in on this classic debate pic.twitter.com/WlEN4m4Ld6
As both Kelces do eventually agree, Tatum's viewpoint on this is ultimately the right one; one viral dunk does not an NBA star make. And if we're being real, lots of athletes are decent at more than one sport. Whether they're good enough to play multiple professionally is the real question.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jayson Tatum Has Thoughts on Whether NFL Stars Could Play in the NBA.
