LeBron James Almost Left the NBA for the NFL

LeBron James is so closely tied to basketball that it is easy to forget he once had a real choice to make. On New Heights, he talked about the other road in front of him: football. Not as a joke, and not as a childhood dream he quickly outgrew, but as a serious possibility he genuinely considered.

The full conversation

The full conversation is “LeBron James on Playing in the NFL, Jordan’s Pick-Up Games and Favorite Career Milestone | Ep 120” on the official channel. In it, hosts Jason and Travis Kelce welcome LeBron James himself to New Heights, and this moment — how close he came to playing in the NFL — comes from that chat. You can watch it in full on the official New Heights YouTube channel.

More moments: LeBron James · New Heights

What happened in this moment

James spoke about how close he came to choosing the NFL over the NBA, and about the pull football still had on him. The clip lands because it reframes a career that now looks inevitable. At the time, it was not. He was a gifted athlete in two sports, and the decision between them carried real weight.

Why everyone is talking about it

Fans love a sliding-doors story, and this one is hard to beat. One choice, made differently, would have changed two leagues at once. Basketball would have lost its defining star of a generation, and football would have gained an athlete unlike anything it had seen. The clip also shows a different side of James: not the polished superstar, but a young athlete weighing two futures.

The background

Long before the NBA, James was a standout wide receiver in high school, a serious football prospect in his own right. He entered the NBA in 2003 as the number one overall pick, and the rest is history. But the football chapter was never just a footnote to him. It was a genuine alternative, and one he clearly still thinks about.

Key takeaways

• LeBron James seriously considered leaving basketball for the NFL.
• He was a standout high school wide receiver, not just a casual football fan.
• Choosing the NBA changed the course of two sports at once.

Source: New Heights, hosted by Jason & Travis Kelce. Full episodes on the official New Heights YouTube channel.

Frequently asked questions

Did LeBron James play football? Yes. He was a standout wide receiver in high school and a serious football prospect before committing fully to basketball.

Could he really have played in the NFL? In the conversation, he treats it as a genuine possibility he weighed seriously, though he ultimately chose the path that made him a basketball great.

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Jane Brooks covers the podcast moments everyone ends up talking about — the interviews, the slip-ups and the stories celebrities tell when the conversation gets comfortable. She runs the written side of Pods Talk Media.