The Extra Point Exploring the Physical Differences Between NBA and NFL Players
Exploring the Physical Differences Between NBA and NFL Players
May 10, 2024
Former NBA player, Austin Rivers, made headlines when he said that 30 NBA athletes might seamlessly transition to the gridiron, but NFL stars could not make a similar move to the NBA.
Our Football Analytics team attempted to define the athleticism and skill sets needed in each sport; since those metrics are difficult to capture, the team turned to readily available and easy-to-contrast data — height and weight.
Below is a chart showing the size of everyone who played in the 2023–24 regular season of each league. NFL players are represented by blue dots, while NBA players appear as red dots.
On average, NFL players tend to weigh 29 pounds more than their NBA counterparts. Yet an NBA player is, on average, four inches taller than an NFL player, with 447 NFL players (21%) listed under 6’0” compared to only seven NBA players (1%).
But how many NFL and NBA players have the same height and weight? There’s overlap among those standing between 6’0” and 6’6” and weighing between 200–250 pounds.
Using a statistical classification model, we identified 57 NFL players with height and weight profiles closer to NBA players. There were only 18 NBA players with similar profiles to NFL players.
The NBA’s Isaiah Thomas, Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Marcus Smart, Luguentz Dort, and Donovan Mitchell have physical builds more common among NFL players. NFL players Tariq Woolen, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Jameson Williams, Christian Watson, and DeVonta Smith have height and weight more common among NBA players.
NBA players would be hard-pressed to make the switch to one position group: offensive linemen. None of the 582 NBA players in 2023–24 weighed 300 pounds or more, a weight class occupied by 92% of offensive linemen. Meanwhile, 19 of the 244 NFL wide receivers in 2023–24 share the height and weight characteristics of NBA players.
Contributed by Tom Bliss and Michael Lopez
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