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“He would’ve been the LeBron James of the NFL rather than the NBA”: Travis Kelce explains why the Lakers superstar’s athletic talents and brawn translate perfectly to football as well

Amulya Shekhar
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"He would've been the LeBron James of the NFL rather than the NBA": Travis Kelce explains why the Lakers superstar's athletic talents and brawn translate perfectly to football as well

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce reiterates the popular notion that LeBron James could also have made a handy NFL tight end.

As NBA fans, we’ve all seen numerous exhibitions of LeBron James’ athletic talents through the years. He is such a cerebral player that sometimes people forget that he still has a monster 36-inch vertical at the age of 36, if not higher.

When James was first recognized as a generational athlete, he was also a high school football player. He eventually made the choice to concentrate on basketball full time, which is why he’s now an all-timer in the NBA. However, his freakish athleticism and spatial awareness had marked him out as a multi-sport talent right at the outset.

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James has definitely got the passing vision and the throwing arm to be a successful quarterback if he devoted himself to the craft long-term. Another position that many NFL fans believe he could play well would be as a tight end.

Travis Kelce believes LeBron James could easily be an NFL tight end

Kelce was recently a guest on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast. The Chiefs tight end has built his reputation as one of the biggest offensive weapons in the NFL today.

His tandem with Tyreek Hill and former MVP Patrick Mahomes makes them one of the best offenses in league history. And the All-Pro team member believes that LeBron James could also be a competitor with him at his own position:

“(LeBron James could be an NFL tight end) 1000% man. His athleticism just translates so well into football. One thing that I have experienced as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs is that we’ve actually had 3-4 guys come into the building as basketball players.”

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“They’re trying to make the transition into the tight end position because the skillsets fit so well. And the biggest thing I’ve seen is that basketball players are always on their toes, they’re not really taking big strides.”

“His (LeBron James’) strides are enormous while he’s running. But he knows acceleration and deceleration and things like that and has his own tempo throughout the game. So I think he’d probably be the LeBron James of the NFL instead of LeBron James of the NBA today.”

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Amulya Shekhar

Amulya Shekhar

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Amulya Shekhar is a sports junkie who thrives on the thrills and frills of live sports action across basketball, football (the American variant works too), parkour, adventure sports. He believes sports connect us to our best selves, and he hopes to help people experience sports more holistically.

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