体育网站 Grantland 发表文章《Could LeBron James Really Play in the NFL?》

NBA 著名球星 LeBron James 除了篮球技术了得之外，就连打美式足球也相当耍家，在正式成为职业篮球员之前，高中时期的 LeBron James 就曾经参与美式足球运动，担任外接员的位置，更被选入全州第一队。数月前 LeBron James 接受媒体访问时透露自己 40 码的冲刺时间只需 4.6 秒，在美式足球这个讲求瞬间爆炸力的运动来说，能够在 4.6 秒冲刺 40 码实在惊人，而目前在 NFL 联盟中，亦只有两名边锋能够达到这项要求。

正当大家都对 LeBron James 转打美式足球抱有期望之际，美国体育网站 Grantland 的编辑 Bill Barnwell 就发表了文章《Could LeBron James Really Play in the NFL?》，质疑 LeBron James 是否能够担任 NFL 美式足球员的能力。Bill Barnwell 不但从伤患及耐久力去评估 LeBron James 的实力，同时更提出数个实质例子去加强文章的说服力。以下为文章的部份节录内容，请各位细心观赏。完整内容可点击此处浏览。

LeBron James is a freak athlete and a superstar capable of doing close to anything he wants on a basketball court. LeBron James was a very good wide receiver when he played high school football. Therefore, LeBron James would be an excellent pro football player if he ever decided to follow in Michael Jordan’s footsteps and switch sports midcareer. Right? That’s the story that has gone around for years, with many sharing the opinion expressed by Dez Bryant on Friday: James would be a “beast” of a player, most likely at tight end. Bryant even said he thinks it would take James just “two weeks” to get down the technique of being a receiver. Can it really be so simple?

I’m skeptical. I don’t doubt James’s athleticism, work ethic, or toughness, but there’s more to switching sports than it might seem. In fact, some aspects of James that translate well to basketball might actually be a net negative in football. And in the long run, I suspect that if he did move to football, he might be better off at a different position.

Perhaps the biggest thing that would hold James back from being an excellent football player for a long time would be the same thing that helps him excel as a mismatch in basketball: his height. James is listed at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, but there have been suggestions that he has grown since arriving in the league, to around 6-foot-9 and the 255- to 275-pound range. It doesn’t really matter. In either case, while LeBron’s height would make him a terror on jump balls1 in the end zone (as Bryant suggested), his height would also leave him susceptible to something he doesn’t have to fend off in basketball:2 an endless stream of defenders diving at his knees and ankles. Health is a skill, and as a player, protecting yourself from injuries is part of the job. With James’s size and strength, safeties would likely resort to diving at his ankles and knees to bring him down, increasing his risk of injury. It might not be physically possible for a player that size to protect himself from low hits downfield.