re: Harder To Do At The Professional Level?

I think what people are really saying (or asking) is which sport requires the most practice and experience to be good enough to make the pros? If we assume most professional athletes are, well, gifted athletes, and most people play the sport they're most talented in, what it comes down to is which particular sport would be the hardest to pick up with no particular talent for just one sport. All other things being equal and a person being equally talented (or untalented, for that matter) in all three sports, which one would he have the greatest chance of becoming a professional in if he picked only one to concentrate on at an early age?

Hitting a baseball is toughest but you can't say that in general baseball players are anywhere near as good of athletes as basketball players. I don't think NBA players can pick up the specific skill of hitting a baseball but think they'd be able to pick up all other aspects of the game rather quickly if given the time to learn.

Some highly skilled baseball players I know can barely dribble a basketball much less shoot.

I think Baseball is the hardest because of reaction time to hit the ball.

Russell Wilson in an NFL superstar.
Never sniffed MLB.

Deion played both.
Bo both.

NBA is very different body type.

I would guess that the Venn diagram for MLB baseball and NFL football overlap more than either would with NBA basketball.

Not as good as athletes intangible wise, but basketball players are not picking up fielding and hitting. Most can't even throw a baseball and look like 50 cent.

Basketball players in baseball

I think it would be equally hard on a pro level for either. I played basketball at a catholic high school in Birmingham. I know a lot of people in the south that dislike basketball, so they never played or follow the sport. Basketball is not easy. There is nobody in the MLB that can do what Steph Curry does even for 1 night. Baseball to me is the hardest sport to master but it's impossible to judge because all athletes spend years crafting their trades.

I actually think basketball's by far the most difficult sport to be an elite pro in. Not only do you need elite skills, you also need elite size and athleticism as well. Football's obviously an easier sport than both. There's been a number of former basketball players who didn't play any college football have major success in the NFL like Julius Thomas, Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates. It would be impossible to make it to the NBA after going four years without playing competitive basketball. Same thing with MLB.

Your average baseball players would for the most part be snapped like twigs in the NFL.

- well i guess maybe not in today's NFL.

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All I know is the average NBA player would look better on a baseball field than the average MLB player would look on the bball court

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The average NBA player would misplay 50% of the fly balls in the outfield and 90% of the ground balls on the infield, if they were thrust into the game.

The people who think it would be an easy transition for them are delusional.

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I think what people are really saying (or asking) is which sport requires the most practice and experience to be good enough to make the pros?

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I think the answer has to be hockey. It's soccer but on slippery ice and with people who can beat you up as part of the culture of the game. Baseball is probably close though.

I think the major sport that relies the most on talent over practice/experience has to be basketball. The one and done phenomenons in college basketball prove that one.