Discussing how fast somebody like LeBron James could run over 400m or even the mile has long been top-tier track and field message board fodder. Prime LeBron did things athletically that barely computed as humanly possible. It's only natural to wonder about his limits in our sport: a sport that quantifies pure athletic ability better than any other.
But wondering is typically all we can do when it comes to assessing basketball stars' track and field abilities.
While it's common for football stars to have stepped onto the oval, runway, or ring and competed at a high level in high school or even college, that's just not the case for high-level hoopers. Modern basketball players aren't so much athletes as they are finely tuned bucket-getting machines who have been optimizing for their particular pursuit since pre-adolescence. (It didn't used to be this way. For instance, the late Bill Rusell, an 11-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, was the seventh-ranked high jumper in the world in 1956, and a potential Olympian in the event.)
But despite the intense level of early specialization widely thought to be necessary to make it to the pros, there are still plenty of NBA players with ties to the track and field world. In the spirit of the playoffs, we'll limit ourselves to players on teams that qualified for the postseason - even if said team has already been eliminated from competition. And true to the topic at hand - the NBA - many of these hoops-track connections are unverifiable through the usual channels. We are forced to rely on "sources," in true Shams Charania fashion.
#1 Buddy Hield (Atlanta Hawks)
Though he only appeared in 13 minutes across two games for the Atlanta Hawks during their ill-fated first-round matchup against the New York Knicks, Buddy Hield apparently possesses the endurance to have handled significantly more burn. Born and largely raised in the track-crazed Bahamas, Hield allegedly ran 1:55 for the 800m as a teenager juggling basketball and middle-distance running. The knock-down three-point shooter is the only player on this list with a MileSplit profile - off the strength of his play in the Bahamas, a teenage Hield was recruited to play basketball at a prep school in Kansas. Per MileSplit's database, Hield's fastest high school 800m was a respectable 2:04.82. But we're inclined to give him some benefit of the doubt. He won both of his two registered stateside 800m races by comfortable margins, and was by then much more focused on basketball. Even if his 1:55 was fuzzily remembered, it's entirely plausible he was in sub-two-minute shape at some point in his life.
#2 Steven Adams (Houston Rockets)
Steven Adams of the Houston Rockets never participated in track and field, but in terms of family pedigree, he might have more claim to the sport than anyone else on this list. Despite his reputation as the strongest man in the NBA, the 12th-year pro is will forever live in the athletic shadow of two of his sisters. Valerie Adams - a Dame of the New Zealand Order of Merit - is maybe the greatest shot putter in history. She is a two-time Olympic champ, a four-time World champ, a four-time World Indoor champ, and claimed 14 total global championship medals during her career. Meanwhile, Lisa Adams is a two-time Paralympic and three-time World Para shot put champion in the F37 para classification, and the class's world record holder, too.
#3 Andrew Wiggins (Miami Heat)
Adams is not the only player on a playoff-qualifying (and playoff-eliminated) team with an Olympic medalist in the family. Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins's mom, Marita Payne, was a legitimate track and field star who still holds national records in the 400m (49.91) and 4x400m (3:21.21). Payne had a busy 1984. In addition to setting those Canadian records, she was a member of the nation's 4x100m and 4x400m relay squads at the Los Angeles Olympics, and contributed to silver medal performances in both. Prior to that, Payne was an NCAA standout at Florida State University, where she was a 21-time All-American and an eight-time NCAA champ across individual events and relays.