One wonders about the famous athletes that would remain unknown...

Coinstartled

...had their sport never been invented.

Most of the 7 foot tall centers come to mind. Most of the PGA as well I suppose.

Justacommeman

I'm seriously worried about you. You have to be close to be running out of ideas for threads.

mark

Coinstartled

Trust me....running out of thread ideas is not a problem!

Kareem Abdul Jabbar for example holds the NBA scoring record. With no professional basketball he is a house painter or a CPA or a tall ventriloquist. All honorable professions but none as prestigious and profitable as a career in the NBA.

Certainly crossover players are numerous such as Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Danny Ainge.

Plenty more that never played dual sports professionally. Maybe Tiger Woods could have been a pitcher or tennis player if his father had started him at a young age. A dominant player...probably not.

garnettstyle

Before his illustrious bowling career, the great Earl Anthony was offered a $35,000 signing bonus by the Baltimore Orioles to pitch, but the deal was negated when he tore his rotator cuff.

Coinstartled

....and noted in another thread, Bob Gibson was a member of the Harlem Globetrotters for a season before joining the Cardinals.

Kirk Gibson was a star footballer at Michigan State, Tim Tebow, well Tim Tebow....we are rooting for you, Tim.

Justacommeman

@Coinstartled said:
Trust me....running out of thread ideas is not a problem!

m

travis t

Think about all the Roman gladiator movies we would have missed if gladiators never gladiated. And the L.A. Coliseum would just be a Parks and Rec center.

coinkat

Kareem is a very bright man. He knows jazz, art and even coins. I have read that his record collection is significant. I suspect he just might enjoy discussing music more than basketball.

Justacommeman

@coinkat said:
Kareem is a very bright man. He knows jazz, art and even coins. I have read that his record collection is significant. I suspect he just might enjoy discussing music more than basketball.

I had a 90 minute convo with Kareem in the Delta lounge in Detroit quite a few years ago. was extremely engaging and whip smart. He also hated Lambier but did admit that he fouled Bill on a pivotable no call in the finals.

A very impressive man. You can't comprende his size until you are shaking his hand.

mark

Coinstartled

Ran into Chuck Nevitt at a club in Windsor Ont., mid 1980's. I am 6 foot 2 and felt like a little kid standing next to him (7' 5"). Quite friendly and in spite of the multiple distractions in the room.....was happy to talk a bit of Basketball.

Justacommeman

And non sports related I literally just ran into Jon Voight at an ACE Hardware Store. Nice man, short great convo. In the same store I've run into Walter White, I mean Bryan Cranson. Probably buying lab equipment In a different hardware store I've run into George Clooney. Weird

M

Coinstartled

As this thread has taken an interesting turn..

I was at the Waffle House on Northwestern highway in 1976 or so. Probably 2:30 in the morning. A well dressed Bob Lanier strolls in, buys a pack of cigarettes from the machine and leaves.

Found this clip on Wiki.
"
According to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lanier would smoke cigarettes during halftime breaks. Abdul-Jabbar would try to take advantage of this by forcing Lanier to run more during the second half."

travis t

@Justacommeman said:

@coinkat said:
Kareem is a very bright man. He knows jazz, art and even coins. I have read that his record collection is significant. I suspect he just might enjoy discussing music more than basketball.

I had a 90 minute convo with Kareem in the Delta lounge in Detroit quite a few years ago. was extremely engaging and whip smart. He also hated Lambier but did admit that he fouled Bill on a pivotable no call in the finals.

A very impressive man. You can't comprende his size until you are shaking his hand.

mark

I had a 90 second encounter with him at LAX while waiting on a flight to Maui sometime during the early 90s. I attempted to strike up a conversation, but he was NOT in the mood, as it was around 9am, he was being accompanied by an attractive young blonde female, and he was reading a book. I don't know what book it was, so don't ask. I was too busy staring at the blonde. Don't tell my wife.

Coinstartled

""" I was too busy staring at the blonde. Don't tell my wife."""

Or his.

travis t

@Coinstartled said:
""" I was too busy staring at the blonde. Don't tell my wife."""

Or his.

Mine was sitting right there next to me at the time. Also, reading a book.