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LeBron James Reveals The One Year He Considered Playing In The NFL

Originally posted on The Spun | By Hunter Hodies | Last updated Jan 15, 2025 3:29 PM ET

LeBron James is arguably the greatest NBA player to ever live but there was a time when he seriously considered playing in the NFL.

James recently appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights" podcast and confirmed that he thought about playing in the NFL in 2011 when the NBA was having a lockout.

"The only time I've really taken it super duper serious, I think it was 2011 when we had the NBA lockout," James said. "I didn't know when we were going to make the deal with the owners and get our league back going so I actually thought about it a little bit back then. I was still young enough to get out there with y'all but that's the only time I've actually seriously considered it."

James played football growing up and has always loved the sport but never made it a career like he did with basketball.

He started his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was with them for the first seven years of his career before joining the Miami Heat for four seasons.

James helped the Heat win two NBA finals before re-joining the Cavaliers for the next four seasons and helped them win an NBA title in 2016 before he joined the Lakers in 2018 and has been with them for the last seven seasons.

He won his fourth NBA title in 2020 with the Lakers and is still searching for his fifth title. He's having another great season this year, averaging 23.7 points, 8.8 assists, and 7.6 rebounds per game.

The Lakers are 20-17, good for seventh in the Western Conference. They're only a half-game out of fifth in the conference but have lost three in a row.

The Lakers will be back in action on Wednesday night against the Miami Heat.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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