It's very difficult to overstate the incredible athleticism of LeBron James, but Clippers coach Doc Rivers is doing his best to get as close as possible to that mark. During an appearance on the his son's Austin Rivers' podcast, "Go Off," Doc Rivers said that James could have been the GOAT in the NFL had he chosen that route instead of deciding to play basketball.

James famously was a dual-sport athlete in high school, playing football and basketball. He was good enough as a wide receiver that he received offers from D-I schools to come play for their teams, most notably Notre Dame.

The topic of any athlete's greatness is fun to dish on, but LeBron's potential in other athletic events does seem to come up a lot more than that of any other athlete. The thought experiment of how he'd perform outside of basketball have gone beyond football. 

Even the famously surly John Tortorella was asked to speculate on whether James would make a good hockey player once. In a 2017 interview with a Cleveland radio station, he shut down the thought.

"He can't skate," Tortorella said on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, per NHL.com. "He's too [darn] big. He can't skate."

"I challenge him," he continued. "Tell him to get his [butt] out here and come on the ice and skate with us. I want to see him skate."

It's also worth noting that James probably wouldn't be a popular man on the ice given that he's been a target of scorn from hockey players trying to prove how much tougher they are than other athletes (of course, for the sake of his continued employment, please actually watch Pete Blackburn's sport).

Let's just put all of this to bed now so it no longer has to be discussed: LeBron's talent in any sport goes as far as any elite athlete would be good at any athletic event. If Michael Jordan can go without playing baseball for over a decade and hit .200 in Double-A ball, James could probably accomplish something similar in his preferred non-basketball sport of choice. But "probably" is as close as we'll ever come to an answer.

I'm personally looking forward to rehashing in a couple weeks when, after NASCAR officially returns, the question gets asked if LeBron would dominate stock car racing.