Quote:
Originally Posted by mooby
I am a basketball fan, and I do remember Marshall's comments, and while I do feel he wouldn't have been able to step in immediately on the court and dominate, I don't think the transition would've been as hard as a basketball player going to football.
Playing basketball at an high NBA level, while definitely hard and something you would have to put in a lot of time and work at, is not the same as playing football at a high NFL level. The NFL is so tough of a league, you have to play for a minimum of three years in college before they even let you enter the draft. Basketball players only have to play a year in college before they're allowed to go pro, and that wasn't even the case a decade ago.
But to answer the question above, yes I do think Marshall's comments were an insult to all the NBA players who have had to work hard to advance their craft. Sometimes players can get by talent alone, and while Marshall does have the athleticism, the best players in the league have both talent and the smarts to put it all together.
I might be wrong, Marshall might be able to step on the court after years of not playing organized basketball and play well, but the odds are against it. Especially given that where he's gotten in the NFL today is a result of his talent, and probably not a testament to how hard he had to work to become a bigtime receiver. And I use that term loosely.
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Football is much more strategy oriented then basketball. Sure you need coaching to get that final push to win the NBA Finals but there's more slack in basketball for players to get away with raw athleticism and even win games with poor coaching.
If you take a receivers that's tall, fast, and can catch but can't run routes or read defenses then you're looking at a much shorter career. If you have a linebacker that can tackle, run, and shed blocks but doesn't know how to read offenses then you'll have a guy with a short career.
In basketball usually the most athletically gifted make the final cut, where as in football you see superior athletes cut all the time in favor of more savvy players that understand the game.