[mowestenParticipant]

 The morning after the NFL draft I see a lot on memes on social media about how 29 of 32 NFL first round picks played multiple sports in high school.

I think football, especially at the high school level, loves to promote that idea because a terrific athlete can walk onto the football field having never even played the sport and be an impact player.

But, here’s a serious question, I don’t think the opposite is true. In otherwords, I don’t think it benifits an elite basketball player to play other sports in high school. So … with that in mind, does anyone know how many projected 2018 first round NBA draft picks played other sports in high school?

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 I have no idea but my guess is probably not many. Basketball at the grassroots level has become such a year round endeavor for the truly elite prospects that it leaves very little time for other sports. Plus, there is always the fear of getting hurt, especially in a sport like football, which kind of makes the risk outweigh the possible rewards of playing. 

Most of the players in this draft (with maybe a few exceptions) are guys that have probably had a singular focus on basketball and making it to be the nba since a very young age.

 

[holefillers1Participant]

 Most International prospects played soccer at some point.  Ben Simmons played rugby. Wasn’t Tony Parker like a stud tennis player or something? I do know that if you want to transition to the NFL then TE is your position. Almost forgot. Julius Peppers played BBall and so did McNabb. Definitely goes the other way…good call. I agree with Dazz, basketball is specialized and unless you are a natural, you hone your craft day in and day out. Catching Footballs won’t tighten your handles or improve your jump shot.

[Lotto StudParticipant]

 If Allen Iverson never played football, do you think he would have brushed off the fact that he could handle contact the way he did inside the paint; let alone bounce back from all of his injuries? His toughness came from the gridiron. He is a football player that happened to play basketball really well.

[mowestenParticipant]

I’m not entirely sure football made Iverson tough. I think the circumstances in which he grew up made him tough, and a natural fit for the football field as well as the hardwood.

Lets not forget that Iverson wasn’t a two sport star as senior in high school. He didn’t play any sports his senior year of high school. I’d say the months he spent at Newport News City Farm toughened him up more than playing football.

 

 

[R4unoParticipant]

 Donovan Mitchell probably thought at 15 years of age he was a future professional baseball player. His family already saw back then that he had more potential in basketball, but they had a hard time convincing him to change his focus from one sport to another. He continued playing both sports until he got injured playing baseball, after what he couldn’t play either sport for many months. He’s later said the injury grew back his appetite to play basketball and after that he focused on only basketball. As we have seen now, if you have Mitchell’s level of work ethic and will to succeed, it is possible to think of basketball as a secondary sport at the age of 16 and then be the best player of your draft class five years later. He had to work a lot on his shooting at Louisville, but he improved so fast that playing baseball probably didn’t have any negative effects on his basketball career.

[JoeWolf1]

The basketball landscape has really changed in the past 20 years. I’m old, but not that old (35) and when I was in high school, I was able to play 3 sports and still be an active member of my basketball team in good standing.

In the summers we’d go to occasional AAU tournaments, and play in a league as a team, but it wasn’t nearly as common to work with trainers or skills coaches in the late 90s. This allowed us who wanted to be multi-sport athletes to do so. I did track and field, and competed as a high and triple jumper. The additional plyometric training and conditioning absolutely helped my development as an overall athlete which translated on to the basketball court.

The funny thing is, that I started out playing football in the fall when I entered high school, but after my freshman year I gave it up so I wouldn’t get hurt risk a major injury right before basketball season. I was actually encouraged to go out for cross country ( I did soph-senior years) to stay in shape for basketball. This mindset is probably extinct. I’d probably be encouraged to work with a skills coach or trainer.

I feel basketball is a little different in terms of the landscape. I feel it’s really a year round sport if you want to stay in good standing with your team.

I do know of a few NCAA athletes who competed in other sports in high school. For instance Kerwin Roach (Texas) was an elite high school long and triple jumper. I’m sure a lot of guys played other sports when they were kids, but as far as doing two or three sports in high school, I’d doubt there are many.

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Charlie Ward (for those old enough to remember) played HS and college football, Luke Kennard played football up to his junior year in HS before focusing on basketball. I think you’ll find a few athletes from this draft who played other sports in HS. In HS, you try out all sorts of sports and see how you go. Doesn’t mean you’ll stick with all of them. If you’re not a "top" basketball prospect, you might try all sports to see which one you like best, or the one you’re best at. 

[cohenbc1Participant]

John Lucas (the elder) was an All-American in tennis and played pro team tennis, which was a thing in the ’70s. He was doubles partners with Renee Richards.

Danny Ainge played pro baseball and made it to the big leagues with the Blue Jays for parts of two or three seasons.

Tim Duncan was an Olympic-level talent in swimming, before he grew to be seven feet tall.

Just a few anecdotes off the top of my head. I think I agree with the OP’s thesis.

High school basketball players do benefit from football in in one way, however: modern weight rooms and strength coaches in high school. That only happens in high schools with big time football programs. A couple years ago I read an article about the decline of New York City high school hoops, and most coaches pointed to this as the reason. NYC doesn’t have high school football. Which means NYC hoops players have trouble physically competing with guys from, say, Texas or Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

[CameronCrazy11Participant]

I’ll always be an advocate for multi-sport athletes. I know that basketball has now become essentially a year round sport if you want to get noticed, but I firmly believe that doing multiple sports through about age 15 or 16 made me a better overall athlete and much less injury prone.

People can say what they want, but I find it very hard to believe that the rapid increase in serious ligament injuries over the past 20 years or so among basketball players (especially young ones) does not have a correlation to players thinking they should be playing hoops 12 months out of the year.

LeBron is obviously an extreme example because of how freakishly athletic he is, but playing football for most of his high school career didn’t seem to hurt him too much when it comes to skills.

 

 

 

 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Can’t play two-sports in HS if you play basketball because of AAU. It’s the whole year when HS basketball isn’t played. 

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