The 2021 NFL season is underway and for the time being, the NBA has taken a back seat. The Los Angeles Lakers and the rest of the league will be back soon enough but right now, before the MLB Playoffs begin, all the attention is on the NFL and college football.
Like the NBA, the NFL has some massive stars with interesting stories and narratives in the league. While every athlete is different, there are NFL stars who have very similar parallels to NBA stars.
The stars on the Los Angeles Lakers certainly have their own unique NFL parallels. In particular, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony can all be compared to an NFL player with similar careers/perceptions.
Matching current Los Angeles Lakers players with their NFL parallels:
LeBron James: Tom Brady
This one is easy and it is why it is kickstarting the conversation. LeBron James and Tom Brady are both revolutionary for what they are doing in their respective sports as they are tearing down the notion of Father Time and age barriers.
Eventually, there will be a day when both players start to regress and eventually retire from the league and both retirements will be sports-shifting events. But for the time being, LeBron is playing at a level that no 36-year-old basketball player has ever played at while Tom Brady continues to be a top-five quarterback in the league at 44 years old.
The only big difference between these two is their rings and records in the title game. Brady has seven Super Bowl rings in nine attempts, LeBron has four NBA Championships in 10 attempts. Brady is the bonafide GOAT of football while LeBron is still no. 2 to Michael Jordan.