Allen Iverson Among Greatest NBA/NFL What-Ifs
The world of sports is filled with dual-sport athletes who likely would have excelled if they had chosen another path. Mekhi Becton, who was selected by the New York Jets in this year’s NFL draft, was an explosive high school basketball athlete in Highland Springs, Virginia, before deciding to attend Louisville and focus on football full-time.
[Did you know that we are a dual-sport threat? Be sure to check out Pro Football Rumors for the latest news and rumors on the NFL Draft and offseason.]
One of the most famous examples of a player dominating in two sports and picking one over the other before college is another Virginia native, Allen Iverson.
Before going on to become a Hall of Fame player in the NBA, Iverson was in position to have a great football career. The Sixers great earned the State of Virginia’s High School Football Player of the Year and Basketball Player of the Year in the same season, as Tim Casey of VICE Sports details.
Iverson would have college recruiters, including Florida State’s staff, show up to his games. FSU believed Iverson could play quarterback for its football team while also playing point guard for the basketball team, similar to how Charlie Ward played both sports (Ward won a Heisman trophy in 1993 before playing 11 years in the NBA).
“We were on him hard,” former Florida State assistant head coach Chuck Amato previously told Casey “He was just a great athlete and a competitor. He would’ve been the first Michael Vick.”
Vick, another Virginia athlete, was arguably the most electric playmaker ever to play college football. Iverson ultimately played basketball at Georgetown, but he missed the gridiron. While in the program, he approached coach John Thompson about playing for Georgetown’s football team and had his request denied.
“He said, ‘I’ll tell you what I think about you playing football. If you don’t get your skinny black [explicit] the eff out of my face…you better,'” Iverson told SLAM back in 2012. “Just like that. I never thought about playing football again after that. I mean, he made it clear that this is not why I was here.”
Iverson’s former football coach believes the now 44-year-old would have had a career similar to Deion Sanders. Iverson certainly thrived in the craft he pursued — he was the No. 1 pick in 1996 by the Sixers and he made 11 All-Star games in his career. Still, you wonder, what if…
“Football is always going to be my No. 1 sport,” Iverson said back in 2016. “It was my first love. Obviously if things went another way, I probably would have ended up playing football instead of basketball, but God got his way of doing things.”
In honor of this week’s NFL draft, here are a few others who showed off a combination of basketball and football talent:
- Longtime NBA guard and three-time Slam Dunk champion Nate Robinson, who appeared in more than 600 regular season games for eight NBA teams, initially enrolled at the University of Washington on a football scholarship before concentrating on basketball beginning in his sophomore year. At the end of his 11-year NBA career in 2016, the former Huskies defensive back tried out for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
- Antonio Gates, one of the NFL’s all-time best tight ends, put up impressive numbers as a basketball player at Kent State, averaging 20.6 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 4.1 APG in 2002/03 on his way to All-MAC First Team honors. While Gates’ 955 career receptions and 116 total touchdowns in the NFL suggest he made the right choice, he has admitted to wondering how he might have performed in the NBA.
- Before he was an NBA team president or head coach, Pat Riley was a two-sport athlete, having been drafted in 1967 by the San Diego Rockets in the NBA and as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. The Cowboys selected Riley and recruited him despite the fact that he hadn’t played football since high school. Although Riley says he considered playing in the NFL, he ultimately opted for the more viable basketball path and has now spent more than five decades in in the NBA as a player, broadcaster, coach, and executive.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Danny Ainge Talks Draft Prep, Celtics’ Engagement
Executives and coaches around the league are taking different approaches to keep their teams engaged during the NBA’s hiatus. Celtics team president Danny Ainge is simply trying to keep his guys motivated, as he believes the season will resume and wants to be ready for that moment.
“We’re approaching this like we’re going to return to play and that we’re going to be playing playoff basketball,” Ainge said told reporters earlier this week including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. “And we are staying in touch. We are having conference calls where we have guest speakers, motivational speakers, that address all of our guys on Zoom. We are doing workouts with the coaches and with the strength coaches via Zoom and so forth.”
Who have the guest speakers been so far? There are some notable names on the list.
“Maybe I don’t want to say that, just because maybe they’ll get bombarded by other people that read this,” Ainge said. “But we’ve had… Mark Wahlberg, (he) was great. He was a lot of fun. Our players got a good kick out of him. He had some pretty good stories. LL Cool J, his story is pretty fascinating. Jim Cash (one of the Celts’ board of directors), who’s always magnificent to listen to, had some great wisdom and knowledge for the players. And we had Dr. Myron Rolle, who has a fascinating story (neurosurgery resident, former NFL player), here at Mass General. So, yeah, we’ve had some very inspirational speakers.”
As for the evaluation part of his job, Ainge doesn’t envision the current circumstances making it that much more difficult. He did admit that not having pre-draft sessions (which is a possibility) could force teams to miss out on some gems.
“Let’s just take Rajon Rondo as an example,” Ainge explained. “Had I not been able to see him in the draft workout and sat down and talked with him and looked into his eyes, I don’t think I would have drafted him. So I think there is value in that. At the same time we drafted Avery Bradley without any draft workouts. We drafted Steve Nash back in our Phoenix days without a draft workout. So I think you don’t always get guys in for draft workouts, but you have to be prepared to take guys. That’s why we’re doing so much homework at this time and taking advantage of getting ahead of the game in case we don’t get draft workouts. But we’ll be prepared.”
2020/21 Salary Cap Preview: Houston Rockets
Hoops Rumors is looking ahead at the 2020/21 salary cap situations for all 30 NBA teams. Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the NBA, it’s impossible to know yet where the cap for 2020/21 will land. Given the league’s lost revenue, we’re assuming for now that it will stay the same as the ’19/20 cap, but it’s entirely possible it will end up higher or lower than that.
The Rockets took small-ball to another level at this year’s trade deadline when they sent Clint Capela to Atlanta in a four-team deal that left them without a real center. Houston’s ensuing “micro-ball” experiment brought out the best in Russell Westbrook and looked awfully effective at times, though the team turned in a few March duds, including losses to New York and Charlotte.
If the NBA is unable to resume its 2019/20 season, not getting to see how the Rockets’ lineup performed in the postseason will be a major loss — not just for fans, but for Houston’s front office, which didn’t get much of a sample to evaluate whether the experiment was worth extending beyond this season.
Here’s where things stand for the Rockets financially in 2020/21, as we continue our Salary Cap Preview series:
Guaranteed Salary
- Russell Westbrook ($41,358,814)
- James Harden ($41,254,920)
- Eric Gordon ($16,869,276)
- Robert Covington ($12,138,345)
- P.J. Tucker ($7,969,537)
- Danuel House ($3,717,000)
- Troy Williams ($122,741) — Waived via stretch provision.
- Total: $123,430,633
Player Options
- Austin Rivers ($2,436,046)
- Total: $2,436,046
Team Options
- David Nwaba ($1,824,003)
- Total: $1,824,003
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Ben McLemore ($2,283,034) 1
- Chris Clemons ($1,517,981)
- Total: $3,801,015
Restricted Free Agents
- Michael Frazier (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Early Bird rights
- William Howard (two-way qualifying offer / $1,445,697 cap hold): Non-Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $2,891,394
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Tarik Black ($3,948,000): Non-Bird rights 3
- Bruno Caboclo ($1,620,564): Early Bird rights
- DeMarre Carroll ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Tyson Chandler ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Jeff Green ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Thabo Sefolosha ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights
- Kenneth Faried ($1,620,564): Non-Bird rights 3
- Trevon Duval ($1,445,697): Non-Bird rights 3
- Total: $15,117,081
Offseason Cap Outlook
With more than $123MM in guaranteed money committed to just six players for the 2020/21 season, the Rockets figure to exceed the luxury tax line if it stays at $132.6MM, and could become a taxpayer even if faced with a more forgiving tax threshold.
Of course, Houston has navigated its way out of the tax in each of the last two years, and team owner Tilman Fertitta has been particularly hard this season by the club’s lost China revenue and the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected many of his other businesses. As such, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rockets cut costs, at least to some extent. For now, we’re assuming they’ll be limited to the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, but that could change.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,718,000 4
- Trade exception: $3,595,333 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $2,564,753 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/5/21)
- Trade exception: $1,620,564 (expires 2/8/21)
Footnotes
- McLemore’s salary becomes fully guaranteed after October 18.
- The cap holds for Black, Faried, and Duval remain on the Rockets’ books because they haven’t been renounced after going unsigned in 2019/20. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. If the team cuts costs, it could have the full mid-level exception ($9,258,000) and bi-annual exception ($3,623,000) available.
Note: Minimum-salary and rookie-scale cap holds are based on the salary cap and could increase or decrease depending on where the cap lands.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Early Bird Rights was used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Karim Mane Enters 2020 NBA Draft
Canadian guard Karim Mane has declared for the 2020 NBA draft, just three days before the early entry deadline, he told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. For now, Mane is testing the draft waters without hiring an agent, suggesting he wants to get feedback on his stock directly from teams.
“If I can get a guarantee I’ll be drafted, I will probably need to think about staying in,” Mane said.
Viewed as a five-star recruit, Mane previously attended Vanier College in Quebec, turning 19 last May. Although he’s eligible to declare for the draft and go pro, he could end up choosing to attend a U.S. college instead. Michigan State, Marquette, Memphis, DePaul, and Pittsburgh are among the programs he’d consider in that scenario, per Givony.
According to Givony, Mane – who currently ranks second on ESPN’s list of international prospects born in 2000 – has strong physical tools, including a 6’10” wingspan. Givony adds that the young guard had an impressive showing at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Greece last summer and would have been in position to boost his stock at this year’s Nike Hoop Summit if the event hadn’t been canceled.
“NBA teams haven’t been able to see me that much because I played in Canada and was hurt most of the season,” Mane told ESPN. “They know I am a good athlete with a versatile skill-set for a point guard. They know my potential and how hard I work. I’ve heard people compare me to Jrue Holiday, who is a player I study quite a bit.
“… Hoop Summit would have been great to showcase myself,” he added. “I haven’t had enough of a chance to play in front of NBA teams because of my injury, but I am 100% and would like to show them the real me. Unfortunately people will have to settle for film now.”
Central Notes: Pistons, Drummond, Karnisovas, Bulls
As one of just a few teams that will enter the 2020 offseason with cap room in hand, the Pistons will have plenty of options to consider as they weigh what moves to make.
While signing free agents using that cap space is one potential path for Detroit, so is using the room to take on unwanted contracts and collect draft assets. To complicate matters, the revenue the NBA has lost due to its stoppage may affect next season’s cap, impacting the amount of flexibility the club actually has. In other words, head of basketball operations Ed Stefanski has to make contingency plans for a wide variety of outcomes, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details.
“I’ve been in so many markets. To go into free agency and have a plan and once free agency starts, the plan gets blown up,” Stefanski said. “We have numerous plans and different scenarios that could occur. We have to use this money wisely. What makes the most sense to us? We’re asking those questions now. What makes the most sense for the Pistons now?”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Although there has been widespread speculation that Andre Drummond will pick up the $28MM+ player option on his contract for 2020/21, the Cavaliers center tells Michael Pina of SB Nation that he hasn’t finalized any decisions on that front. “For me I haven’t really thought too deep into my next decision yet because obviously we can’t really do anything yet,” Drummond said, referring to the NBA’s hiatus and moratorium.
- Zach Kram of The Ringer breaks down the offseason checklist for the Bulls and new executive VP president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas.
- In a conversation with Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, John Hollinger suggests that Karnisovas’ focus as he builds the Bulls‘ new front office figures to be on scouting and drafting. Marc Eversley (Sixers), Matt Lloyd (Magic), and Mark Hughes (Clippers), who have reportedly interviewed for the general manager job, are all “veteran road warriors on the scouting side,” says Hollinger.
Southeast Notes: Dragic, Leonard, Wizards, Hawks
After starting all but 15 of his previous 487 regular season games since 2012, Goran Dragic was caught off guard when Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra asked him last season about coming off the bench on a permanent basis in 2019/20, as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel relays.
“As soon as I heard this, I was a little bit in shock, you know,” Dragic said during an Instagram Live appearance this week. “Shocked. Mad. It was full of emotions going through my head.”
Admitting the idea was “really hard to accept,” Dragic said that he eventually came to terms with it and tried to turn it into a positive, aiming to be one of the NBA’s very best sixth men. It has been an effective lineup change for the Heat, who had been having their best season since Dragic joined the club in 2015. The veteran point guard, meanwhile, was enjoying a nice bounce-back season, with 16.1 PPG and 5.1 APG in his reserve role.
“At the end of the day, I think that was a great change for me, for my career,” Dragic said, per Winderman. “And I’m really happy how I responded — to the players, to Coach Spo, to the trainers. They always stood next to me and helped me. The only thing I had to do was embrace that role and I did it.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- In his own Instagram Live appearance this week, Heat center Meyers Leonard spoke about getting comfortable in Miami after seven years in Portland, adding that he continues to rehab the ankle injury that had sidelined him before the NBA’s hiatus. “I’m feeling much, much better,” Leonard told Heat TV host Jason Jackson, according to Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “Obviously, I had an injury there right before the season was suspended. And it was bad. I think most people were aware of that. But I’m always incredibly, incredibly focused and I take a very professional approach. So I guess if there’s a silver lining for Meyers Leonard, I’ve had more time to rehab and the rehab’s been very good.”
- As the Wizards prepare for the draft and free agency, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington explores the team’s biggest needs, naming rim protection and perimeter defense as areas the team must improve. Hughes also suggests it could make sense to target a high-ceiling player in the draft, something GM Tommy Sheppard mentioned as a possibility earlier in April.
- In a conversation with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, former NBA executive Seth Partnow says that he’d be wary of offering a maximum-salary extension to John Collins this offseason if he were running the Hawks. Partnow would be comfortable with a deal in the four-year, $80MM range, which may not be enough to lock up Collins before he reaches restricted free agency in 2021.
Follow NFL Draft Day At Pro Football Rumors
The 2020 NFL Draft is just hours away! Whether you’re a hardcore football fan or a casual Sunday watcher, you’re going to want to follow every draft pick, trade, and rumors with Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter).
So far, the Bengals have laughed off every trade offer for their No. 1 pick, but the Dolphins won’t take no for an answer. The ‘Fins are trying to trade for the Lions‘ No. 3 pick, keep their own pick at No. 5, and ship both of ’em to Cincinnati for the top choice. The Bengals have been laser-focused on Joe Burrow for months, but the Dolphins believe they can change their minds with a ludicrous package.
Beyond that, practically every other pick is in play. The Dolphins, Falcons, and Tom Brady’s Buccaneers are all exploring aggressive leaps to move up the board. Meanwhile, the Lions, Panthers, and Jaguars are willing to part with their top-10 picks, if the price is right. Oh, and tons of big-name veterans are on the block, too – Redskins left tackle Trent Williams, Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, and Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard, just to name a few.
For breaking NFL Draft news – without tipped picks, for your viewing pleasure – stay tuned to Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter).
Lue, Kidd, JVG, Jackson Among Nets’ Coaching Candidates
Tyronn Lue, Jason Kidd, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson are among the names on the Nets‘ developing list of potential head coaching candidates, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). According to Stein, interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who replaced Kenny Atkinson last month, will also receive consideration for the permanent job.
As Stein explains (via Twitter), the Nets aren’t expected to complete their search and name a head coach until the 2019/20 season has been completed or canceled, so presumably this list of candidates is preliminary and figures to evolve in the coming weeks and months.
Still, the names are worth noting, as are the ones noticeably absent. For instance, Stein says that Tom Thibodeau is believed to be “solely a Knicks candidate” for the time being, despite some rumblings linking him to the Nets.
There has been speculation that Brooklyn will target a veteran coach who would be comfortable leading a veteran roster that aims to be a title contender in 2020/21. As such, it makes sense that all the candidates identified by Stein have previous head coaching experience, with Kidd having already served as the Nets’ head coach once, albeit not under the current ownership or management group.
Currently, Kidd works as a Lakers assistant under Frank Vogel, while Lue is on Doc Rivers‘ Clippers staff. Van Gundy and Jackson are analysts for ESPN and ABC.
Lue, who was said earlier this week to have interest in Brooklyn’s coaching job, would reunite with Kyrie Irving if he were to land the job. Citing that Irving connection, Stein adds (via Twitter) that Warriors assistant Mike Brown – another former Cavaliers coach – is another name to monitor.
Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert Enters 2020 NBA Draft
Gonzaga junior forward Corey Kispert has submitted his paperwork to enter the 2020 NBA draft, the program announced today in a press release. Kispert will test the draft waters without hiring an agent.
“It’s always been my dream to play in the NBA and going without an agent allows me to see where I stand,” he said in a statement. “If the evaluations tell me I need to elevate my game further, I would be thrilled to return to Gonzaga and play for Zag Nation.”
Kispert is coming off a breakout junior season in which he averaged 13.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.1 APG with a .474/.438/.810 shooting line in 33 games (33.0 MPG).
The 6’7″ forward, who is the only Gonzaga underclassman to enter the draft pool so far, ranks 47th on ESPN’s big board, making him a viable candidate to be drafted.
If the NBA’s pre-draft dates remain unchanged, Kispert will have until June 3 to withdraw his name while retaining his college eligibility. That deadline could be pushed back if the NBA draft is postponed.
Hawks’ Vince Carter Talks Retirement
When the NBA suspended its season on March 11, Hawks wing Vince Carter recognized immediately that he may have made his last appearance as an NBA player that night, discussing the possibility after the game.
Six weeks later, we don’t have much further clarity on whether or not Carter will get a chance to suit up again for the Hawks this summer before he calls it a career. However, speaking to Chris Mannix of SI.com, Carter said he wouldn’t be upset if that March 11 contest ends up being his farewell from the NBA. He checked into that game vs. New York with 19 seconds left in overtime – after the news of Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test and the suspension of the season had broken – and knocked down the game’s final shot, a three-pointer.
“I ended on a pretty cool note,” Carter said.
The Hawks’ original schedule called for a home finale in Atlanta on April 15, the last day of the regular season. On April 10, the team had been scheduled to play in Toronto, where Carter started his NBA career in 1998 and blossomed into a star. While the 43-year-old admits it “would have been nice” to face the Raptors in Toronto one last time, he insists he’s “good with it” if that game doesn’t end up happening, Mannix writes.
Carter also explained why he has been happy to spend the final few seasons of a decorated 22-year NBA career playing for lottery teams in Sacramento and Atlanta.
“I had some (contenders) that were offering the opportunities,” Carter said, per Mannix. “They were saying, ‘We can’t guarantee (minutes).’ And I don’t expect anyone to guarantee me minutes. But to say, ‘We don’t think there’s any minutes, but you would help our team as far as just wisdom.’ That’s something I didn’t want to do. I just wanted to play. I could lend my wisdom and be an unbelievable mentor for a guy. But sometimes showing is better than telling.”
As for whether Carter has had any second thoughts about retiring at season’s end, Mannix writes that some doubt crept in for the eight-time All-Star during the first couple months of the season, but his concerns were assuaged by longtime NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and the late Kobe Bryant, who told him he’d enjoy retirement.
“It was reassuring,” Carter told Mannix. “Comforting. Those are the guys that I wanted to talk to and hear from.”