Answering Austin Rivers: Revealing six NBA players that could've made it in the NFL

Austin Rivers got the sports world talking this week with his take on NBA players being able to make it in the NFL but not vice versa. Now, On3’s Andy Staples and Phillip Dukes joined the conversation with their own thoughts on that, including a list of basketball players that could’ve made it in football.

Staples and Dukes ended their conversations on Friday with this debate. Staples started by stating that, unlike Rivers says, there aren’t 30 or so players from the association who could make it in the National Football League. However, he did admit that the skill level to get to play professionally on the court would also rule out nearly everyone on Earth, let alone just players from the gridiron.

“You cannot put 30 players from the NBA in the NFL right now – not happening. But you also couldn’t put that many NFL players in the NBA,” said Staples. “Like, I’m with Austin Rivers in that the NBA is the hardest league to get a spot in, that it requires the most specific level of skill. That basically the good NBA players right now are aliens – absolute aliens.”

Dukes’ opinion was in agreement, even though he too wasn’t all-in on Rivers’ approach to it. If nothing else, more positions in football versus less in basketball would make it easier for hoopers to transition to the field since there’s more spots for them to play at. That’s not the case in the NBA to him as it has reached a point where only a select, rare group of athletes can meet what you need to play there.

“I think the way he posed it was a little bit disrespectful by just being able to say how he did it. But the reason I think there’s some validity to what he said is because the amount of sheer slots on a roster,” Dukes said. “You got 53 slots? Okay, cool. That’s 53 chances for 53 different body types. In the NBA, it’s a quarter of that. So you have to damn near win the genetic lottery to go to the NBA in some type of way.”

From there, Staples and Dukes made the list that everyone wants to see or have thoughts on. In total, they named six players from the NBA, three current and three former, who could have found success in the NFL.

Here’s the six that they named with analysis and evaluations at specific positions for each:

Anthony Edwards

Andy Staples: “You can do a couple different things with Ant-Man. Like, you can make Ant-Man a tight end, you could make Ant-Man an edge rusher. Like, he’s a dog.”

Phillip Dukes: “A lot of people say, ‘Well, he’d be a wide receiver’. Ant-Man could be a running back, bro. Think about this – look at his frame. He really has that type of frame. If he did football training, he could wear 245 pounds easily in that frame, dog, and he’s still a baby. He has real, live, out-of-worldly athleticism.”

Allen Iverson

Staples: “The thing that made AI one of the best 50 NBA players ever is the thing that would have made him a pretty good football player regardless. Like, the mindset, the mentality. I will die on this hill! AI would have made it in the NFL!”

Dukes: “We watched this because he was like, really, the guy that everyone wanted to be like. If you mean to tell me that you don’t think Allen Iverson could have played corner or a slot guy? He’s very physical, even in the way he played in the NBA. It shows you what he could have been.”

Russell Westbrook

Staples: “Here’s what else I’d love to see him play: triple-option quarterback. Think about all the times you saw Russell Westbrook dribbling full-speed from getting through center court, getting to the top of the key and he’s looking in multiple directions to see am I going to take this, am I going to dish this off? Like, it is a triple-option quarterback. That is the decision-making process. He played it as physically as a triple-option quarterback would play it. Like, that is perfect. He wasn’t on my list but he is perfect. Like, perfect.”

Dukes: “Could you imagine him coming downhill, sticking somebody, bro? Like, A-gap? Bro, I would love to see that. I think his athleticism, the speed. He’s a very explosive athlete. If you have that explosion, if you’re able to create that within yourself, almost like you’re your own bungee cord from the middle of your body? Then you’re usually one of those impact-type football players. I think Russell Westbrook has it in spades. I would love to see him play safety.”

Draymond Green

Staples: “I think Draymond is a defensive guy in football. The assumption is, because the body type, that he’s a tight end. I think you put him on D because of the mindset.”

Dukes: “I think Draymond Green? Like, I think he could play in the NFL. I know he played a little bit at Michigan State.”

Anthony Mason

Dukes: “Man, God bless him. Last one – Anthony Mason.”

Staples: “I saw him in Summer League toward the end of his career. Anthony Mason was the old guy just trying to make a roster at that point. You looked at him and you were like, ‘Nope – not driving on him.'”

Charles Oakley

Staples: “Charles Oakley in a Calais Campbell-role? C’mon!”

Dukes: “Oak would be so cold, bro. Oak scares me,”

It’s fair to have either position on this topic because, at the end of the day, all the athletes we’re discussing are elite overall no matter which side that you’re leaning. Still, Staples and Dukes found some truth in Rivers’ words during their discussion, especially with the players they offered as prime examples.