1/ Of all team sports, basketball has the best overall pure athletes (the bigger well built body types, not the lanklets)
Many have the combination of: height, size, reach, athletiscism, stamina, agility, skills AND most importantly, eye-hand coordination
Why?
- Key difference: Eye-hand coordination is a pre-requisite
Otherwise if they couldn't catch or pass/throw, they would have been weeded out a long time ago.
No other team sports require the extent of eye-hand coordination as required by basketball:
Certainly not soccer (eye-hand coordination not a pre-requisite), only use feet.
You can't say you're a complete athlete if your eye-hand coordination is poor or lacking or non-requisite (like in soccer or NFL Linemen)
What good is being good only at kicking a ball FFS?
What else can do they?
In ancient times, at least good eye-hand coordination probably you were a good hunter.
But good at kicking a ball (soccer)? Probably would have starved to death as a hunter. LOL
- Stamina. These fuckers go all out, constantly running up & down the court for up to 45 min.
Combined with explosive movements (jumping, blocking shots, chasedown blocks etc)
Then there's the actual technical skill element required of shooting mechanics & dribbling, body control in layups
That's why a few ex-basketball players (not even NBA level) have found success in fighting sports
2/ Key test to determine "good athletes"
A good athlete by definition is good at OTHER sports
Plus basketball players are invariably good at other sports like: volleyball, handball etc...
Wilt Chamberlain was a college track star: high jump, 100 yds, long jump, triple jump, basketball, pro Volleyball player.
Many other basketball players had a CHOICE of playing football (tight end), baseball, basketball...
3/ Fight sports also requires excellent eye-hand coordination. Doh
Show me a soccer player (best players are usually under 5 ft 10, under 170 lb. LOL) who has transitioned to combat sports... LOL
One slap would shatter their delicate jaws..
This is the main reason why ex-basketball players (even college players who didn't reach NBA) have made the best transition to combat sports, from non-combat sports eg
- Deontay Wilder (boxer): WBC World champion. Late starter.
- Michael Grant (boxer) - former world #3, started boxing age 20. Challenged Lennox Lewis for world title
- Travis Browne (MMA): former top 5. Community college basketball player
Ex-basketball players Success in other sports:
- Brain Shaw (strongman): World #1
- Thor (Game of Thrones): (strongman) European #1
Volleyball: Wilt Chamberlain was a pro-volleyball player, in HOF
Handball: tons
Personally, I think basketball players are the best athletes in the world. To be the size that a lot of them are while remaining as co-ordinated as they are is no easy feat.