SUMMARY
- Greg Olsen claims NBA players who have basic skill and endurance can easily transition into the NFL.
- Olsen used Anthony Edwards as an example for NBA players who can play in the NFL.
There is a huge ongoing debate regarding NBA players finding it easier to transition into the NFL but not vice versa. Greg Olsen, a former first-round pick to the Chicago Bears also recently weighed in on the debate which was initially started by Austin Rivers over a month ago. Rivers had received a lot of backlash from NFL athletes at the time of his comments.
“I’m knocking every hooper out.”
Former #NFL S @Realrclark25 responds to Austin Rivers, who said “I can take 30 players right now in the NBA and throw them in the NFL.” pic.twitter.com/XZWCvml4Zv
— 49ers & NFL News 24/7 (@49ersSportsTalk) May 8, 2024
“I can take 30 players right now in the NBA and throw them in the NFL. You cannot take 30 NFL players and put them in the NBA,” said Rivers. Athletes like Ryan Clark and JJ Watt took serious offense to what the NBA player had to say. Rivers himself hasn’t played in the NBA for a while now due to unknown reasons. Moreover, he hasn’t landed a contract since last playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Greg Olsen brings out the importance of mastering basic skill in any sport
There are a few basic requirements for aspiring athletes to showcase before getting picked by the NBA. Dribbling, passing, and shooting are a few basic skills that a player has to possess to get picked, and the same goes for the NFL as well. Greg Olsen claims that these are things that an athlete requires to know about even before thinking about playing either basketball or football.
“I could find 10 basketball players that could go make an NFL roster. I think that’s totally realistic.” 👀
– Greg Olsen
(Via @PatBevPod )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 4, 2024
He said, “The reality is outside of maybe quarterback, you can be later to football than you can to basketball, to baseball, to any of the more skill-dominant sports. I can find a lot of really good NFL athletes. The problem is, if you don’t have a lifetime of skill development… the only way to get good at those skill is by doing them. You can only athlete your way through so much.” Usually, athletes tend to stick to their strengths and not focus on developing an all-around game. This tends to be a problem even for the sport they plan on competing in.
Greg Olsen believes players like Anthony Edwards can easily make a transition into the NFL
Interestingly, despite having a similar background to Watt and Clark, Greg Olsen doesn’t seem to disagree with Rivers on his take. He believes from a height standpoint, the shortest NBA player has to be able to play through tough defenses set by much larger players. And if they can handle the physicality the larger defenders bring, it wouldn’t take much from them to play different positions in the NFL.
He said, “And that’s the other point people don’t understand about basketball every great athlete you see playing defensive back, wide receiver, for the most part, they’re like 6’2″. A 6’2″ basketball player like, you’re guarding the point guard. Like you’re the one. The 3s and the 4s are 6’8″. If they just can’t handle the physicality, then it’s a different story.”
The former Carolina Panthers tight end believes a player like Anthony Edwards or anybody of his stature can easily be trained for various positions. “But from a skill set, I could find 10 basketball players that could go make an NFL roster. I think that’s [a transition from the NBA to NFL] totally realistic,” he concluded. So the biggest factors are endurance and basic skills. Olsen is bound to get a lot of heat from football, especially from his peers. But at least that’s one in Rivers’ court in this debate.