CNN
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LeBron James has achieved almost everything you can in the NBA. But for a brief moment, it could have been a very different story.
James is a well-known and avid NFL fan — he’s been seen over the years at games involving his hometown Cleveland Browns — but during the 2011 NBA lockout, he “absolutely” considered to replace hardwood with the grill.
“I didn’t know when we were going to make a deal with the owners and get our league going again,” James said on Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast, hosted by Super Bowl-winning brothers Jason and Travis Kelce. “So I thought about it a bit at the time.
“I was still young enough to hang out with all of you. It was the only time I seriously thought about it. I had serious dreams about it all the time. And in my dream, the ball is never thrown. That’s me in warmups, that’s me going out, running my routes and right when the game starts I wake the fuck up or something. It lets me know I’m not supposed to be there.
James is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but before being drafted by the NBA in 2003, he was a star at the high school level in both football and basketball.
He led St. Vincent-St. Mary High School won three state championships in basketball while also playing wide receiver for the school, being named first team all-state during his sophomore year.
James even had offers from some of the biggest names in college football, recalling that then-Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel tried to recruit him to become a dual-sport athlete before James entered the NBA draft. He was also courted by Urban Meyer, according to ESPN.
“I walked into the school (St. Vincent-St. Mary High), the coach, Jim Meyer, a great guy, probably in 1998 or ’99, and he said, ‘Hey, come here for a minute. I want to show you this. What do you think of this child?’ “, Urban Meyer said, according to ESPN. “I started watching the video and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ He was six feet tall, obviously very tall at the time too.
“He asked me what I thought and I said, ‘I want to propose to him right away. Who is he?’ he continued, hoping to recruit James to Notre Dame where Meyer was the wide receivers coach at the time.
Ultimately, James chose a career involving hoops rather than goals, but that thought apparently always lingered in his head.
When asked who he imagines he might have compared himself to if he had chosen the NFL, James pointed to some legends.
“Probably a mix between (four-time Super Bowl winner Rob Gronkowski) and Randy Moss, but he’s a lot smaller than me,” the 40-year-old said. “He runs a lot faster than me, but he’s a lot smaller than me, but like Megatron (three-time first-team All Pro wide receiver Calvin Johnson), we have the same stature as far as build goes. (Six-time First Team All Pro tight end) Tony Gonzalez, with him and his size, he also played basketball, I loved his celebration where he would dunk on the goal posts.
James’ high school football skills have led many to suggest that he could have a successful NFL career if he had taken that route.
And when asked if it would be harder to go from the NBA to the NFL or vice versa, James said he would think about it.
“I mean I think it’s easier for a basketball player to try out for the NFL than for an NFL player to try to get into the NBA,” he said. “And I know we have great athletes. … (If) an NBA guy decides to go play in the NFL, yes, it’s going to take a transition period. For me it would have been like getting used to being hit again.
“I remember in high school, playing basketball in the summer, playing AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) ball, and then going into the fall and having to get used to it to be hit again. In the first few practices, when you put on the shoulder pads and helmets, getting hit again is the most important thing.
“Football transitions to basketball, it’s so much more coordination, running and jumping, consistent,” he added, while saying he thinks current NBA players Russell Westbrook or Anthony Edwards, would have the most success moving to the NFL.