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Cooper DeJean Might Be the Best Basketball Player in Philly
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
Listen, I know it’s an exhibition game and everyone is playing token defense, but these Cooper DeJean highlights from the Roots Picnic game still took my breath away:
Did you see that finish through contact???? Tell me Coop couldn’t give the Sixers some minutes right now! How about this? – The Eagles win another Super Bowl, Coop signs a contract before the playoff run next year, and we hang two banners. I like that idea.
White men can jump baby:
Real question: Do you think it’d be easier for a basketball player to play football or a football player to play basketball? I think it’s gotta be a football player suiting up for an NBA team. These dudes are already specimens. You don’t think Jalen Carter or A.J. Brown could give a team some solid minutes right now? Hell, they might start on the Jazz or the Wizards. I feel like football skills translate way better to basketball than vice versa. Especially with the physicality in each sport differing so much. It’s a lot easier to bang in the paint than it is to catch a ball over the middle. Sure, LeBron James in his heyday could’ve probably played tight end and been just fine, but I’d say there might be 10 guys in the NBA I could see that could make an NFL roster. I think you could push it to 25-30 NFL players that would make an NBA team. Hell, Reggie Evans used to get solid minutes in his career and he was just a ballhawk on the glass.
A football player transitioning to baseball on the other hand? Probably a little tougher:
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com