Building the Best NBA Roster Using NFL Players

Ever since ESPN analyst Austin Rivers told The Pat McAfee Show in early May that there are 30 NBA players who could play in the NFL but there aren’t 30 NFL players who could play in the NBA, the debate about which sport has more crossover athletes has taken off.

So, since it’s the summer and we have some downtime in the league calendar, let’s join in on the conversation and build a roster with some of the best professional football players in the world.

Each player is selected primarily based on the skill set they’ve shown on the gridiron and their basketball backgrounds are considered as well. Obviously, this is completely hypothetical so sound off with your starting five as well.

Point Guard: Lamar Jackson

Similar to a quarterback, it’s a point guard’s job to distribute the ball to their teammates and rack up assists. With 125 career passing touchdowns, the reigning NFL MVP clearly can do that. Also, Jackson is known for his speed and athleticism, which can help him drive to the hoop and get some buckets, similar to a prime Russell Westbrook.

Shooting Guard: Sauce Gardner

It’s always good to have a defensive specialist off the bench who can lock up the perimeter, and Gardner has good length with 33½-inch arms to get some steals and deflections. That’s a big reason why he’s racked up 31 passes defended over the last two years, which also shows he has good hand-eye coordination.

Small Forward: Micah Parsons

Parsons is an elite athlete who would be a great sixth man and wing on the team. He showed off some impressive basketball skills at this year’s NBA Celebrity All-Star game, racking up 37 points and 16 rebounds while earning MVP honors. The only reason why he isn’t in the starting lineup is the Cowboys star lacks length at just over 6’3″ with only 31½-inch arms.

Power Forward: DeForest Buckner

The team is going to need some size in the post, which the 6’7″ defensive end can provide. He also has nearly 34½-inch arms to help protect the rim and averaged over 12 points a game while shooting 61 percent in high school, per MaxPreps. Buckner would be a good two-way player off the bench.

Center: Calais Campbell

Admittedly, the 37-year-old will have to turn back the clock as he’s not exactly a spring chicken anymore. However, Campbell is 6’8″ and 282 pounds and would be a strong presence down low. According to his University of Miami profile, he was an All-State hooper at high school in Colorado, averaging 22.7 points per game and 3.3 blocks per game.

Late 1990s/early 2000s kids remember how much fun it was to watch Jason Williams on the court.

White Chocolate had crazy handles and was one of the best distributors of the basketball, tossing around no-look and behind-the-back passes like he was on the And1 Mixtape Tour.

That’s the vision here with Patrick Mahomes.

Similar to Williams, Mahomes has revolutionized quarterback play in the NFL with his off-script plays and ability to make some jaw-dropping throws while on the move. That should help him feed teammates and rack up assists on the court. He’d be more of the Rajon Rondo type of point guard than a Steph Curry.

Athletically, the two-time MVP would have to work on the “dad bod” he’s been spotted with recently, but it’s not as if he can’t move. Mahomes ran a 4.8-second 40-yard dash and 6.88 three-cone time as a draft prospect, per MockDraftable, and he’s racked up 12 career rushing downs and 131 first downs with his legs.

Also, the quarterback comes from an athletic family as his dad was a pitcher in MLB for 11 years, and he was a good baseball player as well.

As far as basketball goes, the younger Mahomes averaged 19.9 points, 3.4 assists, 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 steals per game as a junior in high school, according to MaxPreps.

Drake London was a walk-on guard on USC’s basketball team during the 2019-2020 season. While he didn’t get much time on the court in college, that was partly because he couldn’t join the team until the football season was over in January.

In high school, the wideout was an elite hooper who averaged a double-double during his senior year with 29.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, according to his bio on the Trojans website.

Also, London was a good defensive player with 2.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per outing to help earn first-team CIF Southern section honors, a conference with a rich basketball history.

Size-wise, the Atlanta Falcon is a decent height for a shooting guard at just under 6’4″ as the average for the position in this year’s NBA draft class is 6’4¼”, per DraftExpress. Also, he has 33-inch arms and a 77 and three-quarter-inch wingspan to help him be an effective defender on the court.

While London didn’t participate in any agility drills during the NFL combine, he’s shown some high-level athleticism as a route-runner to help stay in front of dribblers in iso situations and drive to the basket on the other end.

Additionally, he’s good at high-pointing the ball on contested catches which should translate to dunks and rebounds on the hardwood.

In a way, a small forward is the basketball equivalent of a tight end. The player has to be big enough to defend and score in the paint while simultaneously being athletic to guard the perimeter and move without the basketball to get open shooting looks.

Meanwhile, a tight end is a hybrid position that requires someone who can block and catch.

So, why not have the best TE in the NFL take the three spot in the starting five?

Travis Kelce is listed at 6’5″ and 250 pounds and has good movement skills to get open as a receiver. That’s a big reason why he ranks fourth in league history at the position with 11,328 career receiving yards. So, he has a skill set that can translate to the hardwood.

It also helps that Kelce already has a connection with the team’s point guard, Patrick Mahomes. Those two have great chemistry together which should lead to some highlight reel alley-oops.

Additionally, the Ohio native was a three-sport athlete in high school and originally intended playing basketball as well as football at the University of Cincinnati, according to The Athletic. Three years ago, he told the All The Smoke Podcast that he thought his future was going to be as a hooper.

“Cleveland Heights was a basketball school,” Kelce said about his high school. “I played everything growing up—football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer—and I loved them all when I was playing them, but basketball was probably most natural to me.

“I wasn’t the best student, so for a long time I thought my only way to college was going to be basketball.”

Basketball is in Arik Armstead’s blood. His father, Guss, trains current and future NBA players in the Sacramento, California area, working with several former Sacramento Kings players like Mitch Richmond, Matt Barnes and Brad Miller, among others, according to SF Gate’s Rod Benson.

The 30-year-old can hoop as well as he averaged a double-double during his junior and senior years of high school, per his bio on Oregon’s website.

In fact, he played on the Ducks’ basketball team during his first two years in Eugene before dedicating himself to football and pursuing an NFL career.

The 6’7″ and 290-pound defensive end has the size the team is going to need at power forward. It also helps that he has 33-inch arms and recorded a 34-inch vertical at the NFL Combine to help protect the rim.

On the gridiron, he has shown some good athleticism and smooth hips to be a productive pass-rusher with 33.5 career sacks and 88 quarterback hits. That should help develop a few post moves to contribute on the offensive end of the court.

So, between Armstead’s family ties, background, size and movement skills, he’s a good option at the four spot in the starting lineup.

The team is going to need a lot of size at center to hold up against the giants of the NBA down on the block.

Unfortunately, there are no seven-footers who are currently in the NFL, so the front office will have to pivot toward the Ben Wallace-type of presence in the post.

Wallace gained fame during the 2004 NBA Finals by keeping Shaq in check despite only being listed at 6’9″. Strength was one of his biggest strengths as he was sturdy enough to fight back against one of basketball’s most dominant big men, so that’s what we’re trying to model with Jordan Mailata.

Mailata is nearly 6’8″ and a hulking 345 pounds,which will prevent him from getting bullied down in the paint. Also, his 36-inch arms should help protect the rim.

Beyond size, his athletic background is what makes the former professional rugby league player a good fit on this hypothetical basketball team.

After dominating on the pitch, he entered the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and put up such impressive testing numbers that the Philadephia Eagles were willing to spend a seventh-round pick on him despite his lack of experience in the sport.

From the looks of it, Mailata doesn’t have much of a basketball background but, again, he didn’t have experience playing football until becoming a pro, either. Now, he’s the fourth-highest-paid left tackle in the NFL and one of the better players at the position.

So, give the Australian some time to develop and he’ll become a good post player in no time.