merlinextraligh

There is a whole bunch of fail in this post.

There's no reason to believe that the skills necessary to succeed in the NBA or NFL translate to cycling. Most notably, they require different body types.

There was a local Jacksonville Jaguar who got very seriously into racing and was at best a decent Cat 2.

Dhani Jones was a starting linebacker for the NFL Giants. He did a travel show in which he took on various sports. One was "racing" a Gran Fondo in Italy, essentially a hard metric century. Even with training and professional coaching, he struggled to merely finish.

As for why NBA athletes get paid more money, one they can charge for tickets, and luxury suites, which you pretty much can't do for cycling. That's hundreds of millions of dollars available to pay athletes. Second, to the extent there's more TV money, it just means more people watch it. That just means more people like to watch ball sports; it doesn't say anything about how good of athletes they are.

Water polo players are pretty darn good athletes, men's gymnasts as well. Yet they don't get paid. Sports salaries are function of revenue, not necessarily talent.

OBoile

I play basketball. It's my favourite sport. Being tall counts for a lot. I've also read similar numbers to the ones furiousferret posted, they're pretty tough to argue with.

However, this is really true for a lot of sports. Part of being naturally good is having the right body proportions. Basketball is just one where it's very obvious what those proportions are. A big reason why many NBA guys could never succeed at cycling is that they're just too big.

Dan333SP

This is really getting off track, but even for sports that require very, very similar skillsets and body types, pros can have a hard time transitioning.

Rugby and American football, at least for running backs, require nearly identical size/speed/body types to succeed at the highest level. Jarryd Haynes was a star in Australia's pro rugby ranks and he's now giving it a shot in the NFL, he's on the roster for the 49ers but he may never make it as more than a backup.

Even within motorsports, Valentino Rossi is one of the greatest ever motorcycle racers. He has the reaction time and reflexes to rival anyone in any form of racing, yet he's tried his hand at sportscars and tested F1 cars a few times without impressing anyone in any particular way.

Point is- It's not just market forces that push the best athletes into a given role. It's a murky combination of childhood exposure, culture, talent, dedication, training, and genetic predisposition (which encompasses body type and size).

It's really impossible to say whether one athlete is better than another if they don't compete in the same sport, and it's foolish to think that being excellent at one sport will guarantee success at another.

ColaJacket

Maybe not a couple of weeks, but with a year of training, Lebron James would probably make a very good Tight End (like Gronk). With his height, speed, and bulk, if he has soft hands and can catch a football, he could play tight end. But why would he? He can make more playing basketball. There are a lot of tight ends in the NFL that were forward in college football, but couldn't make the NBA, so they switched over.

GH

therhodeo

If he can catch. If he can take a hit. If he can block. If he can run a pattern with a linebacker all over him. If he can make the right moves to get to the ball. If he can make the right moves after he catches the ball.

Reynolds 

+1 on the pros being on another, separate level, the same happens inside the pro level. John Degenkolb is a world class pro and in Clean Spirit he says there's absolutely no way he can match team mate Marcel Kittel in a sprint. Probably it was the same with Coppi, Merckx, Indurain, Pantani, and a few others.

seypat

This is what it all boils down to. This and, the inability of fast twitch muscles to endure long sustained loads. Coming out of high school 32 years ago, I had most of the physical attributes you speak of. 40+ vertical, 4.6 40, 100 in the low 11s, 260lb on the bench, standing heart rate in the low 40s and at 5'8"-9ish could dunk almost any way you wanted. But short point guards are a dime a dozen and with Magic doing his thing extra tall point guards were in vogue. That is a story for another thread. I sucked on a bike then and I suck on it now. Same for most any type of endurance sports. Now at 50 that is all that is left. Here is specifically why the elite athletes you speak of would not do well as road racers.

1) Too heavy with no hope of getting light despite getting more lean. Even the lightest NBA guards such as Steve Blake or Eric Maynor are around 175lbs. That is too much to overcome. In my case, I left high school at 168lbs. The college level training programs are so much better. I got more lean, but still got heavier and played around 175lb at 5'8". Those heavy explosive muscles are useless in endurance sports. I am 15lbs heavier now, but still wear the same size clothes except pants are one size bigger. With those muscles, I could/can push a big gear on the flats. But any time the road turns upward, I am scrambling for gears and the riding buddies are gone over the horizon. You cannot overcome the extra weight and gravity.

2) The muscles can't take the long sustained loads with no recovery and repeated efforts. The NBA guys and Bolt probably can generate enormous power and speed on a bike.........for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then they have to lower the rpms and take it easy for a short rest before hitting it hard again. If you could have intervals in bike racing they would be successful. But there isn't. Ask them to put out efforts over 100rpm for 15-20 minutes and their motors will overheat and blow. It's called cramps. Their engines are like big block drag motors. Unbelievable and instant power, but only for short periods of time. You need a high revving all day motor for road racing.

redfooj

tempted to say these are the 2 most athletic people in the world. well, them and decathletes

seypat

Here is Larry Allen, one of the best athletes the NFL has ever seen showing you world class athleticism. Unfortunately, not what is needed to be a pro cyclist. But still incredible to watch. This is for you BillyD!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztHfr5uBIqk

Last ride 76 

They aren't really. They just use slower clocks.

Dan333SP

Waterpolo is the hardest thing I've ever done. Lost 40 pounds in my first 5 months playing it in HS, and I ate virtually unlimited amounts of food. That's a sport that works every muscle in your body. Just getting to a level where you can even play a full game requires a lot of training and practice, unlike a bike race where you can show up and draft around the back of a Cat 5 field if you're not in great shape.

CdaleNike21

I guess you don't realize that LeBron was a 1st team All State WR as a sophomore in Ohio, and led his team to the state semis as Junior. Sure it's HS ball, but some actually thought he was better at football, than basketball in HS. Scary thought.........

puddinlegs

But it's very very hard to be out of shape and 'just sit in' on a cat 1/2 race.

puddinlegs

I don't even know where to go from here. The above is just silly. I can hit high speeds on a bicycle. A lot of amatuers can hit high speeds on a bike, but just not high enough to play with the big boys. I've ridden on the track with regional Keirin S class riders. Sure, I could do 'fast' paceline training laps with them. Hell, I could pretty much always climb faster than they could if we were out on the road. But when it can time to bust out the quads and put it down in the quick and dirty to the finish line, you understand unequivically why they can make a living on a track bike and you and I don't. What Eddy Merckx could do on a bike has nothing to do with the NBA and visa versa. Merckx is also a former world hour record holder. I'm guessing Lebron might ride 2/3rds as far in one hour even if he had the chance to train seriously for 2-3 years. It's amazing you don't understand the different physical/phisiological demands of pro road cycling and the NBA. Let's just toss this one out there while we're making irrelevant comparisons. Neither LeBron nor Eddy would be worth a crap in mens' gymnastics.... but of course that doesn't matter because world class gymnasts don't make as much money, right?

calimtb

A lot of mlb, nba and nfl were outstanding in multiple sports in high school, with a significant percentage playing year round in different sports. It's quite common.

It's also not terribly unusual for an nba player to have options playing pro baseball or nfl ball.

calimtb

So, I claim that an nba athlete would kick ass in a crit race with a bit of training and a few come along and post a roll their eyes emoticon claiming I said these guys would excel in one month stage racing.


Fail.

calimtb

You should try reading what I actually posted. Again, put Eddy Merckx or Indurain or Lance in an nba uniform and you would cry laughing watching them trying to play against nba players.

Put Lebron on a bike, give him a few months of training full time and he could be a terror in a crit race.

Give a prime lance armstrong the same amount of training in basketball and he'd be a decent scrub in a pickup basketball game or in rec league.

calimtb

Yeah, I'm riding just 3X a week and it's appalling how much I'm eating. It's like I'm eating around the clock. And I'm actually losing weight. I can't keep up with the calories I'm burning.

calimtb

The notion that Jordan sucked at AA ball is a bit of a misnomer. It's true that he only hit .200. However, he stole 30 bases, second on the team. Jordan also had 51 RBI's in 127 games, not far off the pace of league leader's 87.

To give a bit of context, his home ballpark was considered pitcher friendly, and he had a pretty sizable strike zone at 6'6." Not to mention that he had not played any form of competitive baseball in over a decade.

Overall, Jordan was a damn good baseball player, capable of competing against elite players and posting some extremely impressive numbers. Give him another season or two of AA ball, he'd be capable of playing major league baseball.

I can't even imagine how bad a pro cyclist would be at pro baseball, at any level.

calimtb

The fact of the matter is, pro cyclists rarely excel at any sport aside from bicycle racing.

Big three athletes (nfl, mlb, nba) often excel at a wide variety of sports: track and field, baseball, basketball, football, among other sports. Wilt Chamberlain was outstanding at volleyball as well. Bill Walton was a track bicycle racer.

Pro cyclists are great at cycling, but that's about it.

therhodeo

Wow the delusions get better.

PepeM

They probably do well in other endurance sports. Didn't Lance win a few triathlons?

calimtb

How do you know nba players could not become excellent gymnasts? I would bet that nba players would become a lot better at gymnastics than pro cyclists given comparable training for both groups.

puddinlegs

Sure, they'd hang in a Cat 4/5 with some work. Maybe cat 3 even, but it's extremely* doubtfull they'd ever be paid to ride a bike unless there was an appearance fee involved.


* extremely.

PepeM

What is even being argued anymore?