Doc Rivers says LeBron James "could have been the best football player in history"

How many times have you heard the question "What if LeBron James had chosen football rather than basketball?"

Even at Saint-Vincent-St. Mary High School, where James was one of Ohio State's best football rookies, it was clear that his future lay on hard ground. However, his NBA dominance has been so deep since 2003 that even today, at 35, James has people thinking about what could have been.

So it was for the Clippers coach Doc Rivers who interviewed Austin Rivers on Wednesday and said that James "would have been the best football player in history" if he had chose this path.

"Michael (Jordan) was a great athlete, as was Kobe (Bryant), as was Kawh (Leonard)," said Rivers. "I don't know if there has ever been an athlete like LeBron James in our league. I really think that if LeBron James had played football, he would be the best in any position."

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According to this news clip that James shared on his Instagram page, he caught 60 passes for 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior (The New York Times

reports that he actually caught 61 passes for 1,245 yards and 16 touchdowns; an improvement of 42 games, 820 yards, seven touchdowns in the second year of its season.)

With James on a 6-8, 232 pound list, it's easy to see what one of the most coveted high school recruits would have looked like, no matter what position. It stands to reason that James, originally from Akron, Ohio, would likely have gone to the mighty state of Ohio if he had chosen football as his career choice. James' football career ended in the summer before his final year after breaking his wrist during an AAU match.

In case you're curious to see what James looked like as a footballer, here are some snapshots of high school and American football: