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New York Jets Who Could Be Two Sport Stars: Le’Veon Bell

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New York Jets, LeVeon Bell

LeVeon Bell joined the New York Jets prior to last season on a four-year, $52.5 million deal. Rumors have swirled about what his future may look like in the Green and White, however, heading into next season he is a Jet.

The former All-Pro back will have a much-improved line blocking for him next season and looks to recreate some of his old magic from Pittsburgh. With that said, what if there was no magic in Pittsburgh, or what if Bell wasn’t a football player. What if Bell was a high jumper instead.

Le’Veon Bell: High Jumper

Bell was an All Ohio Capital Conference First Team running back his senior year. Despite having over 1,300 yards and 21 TDs, he was still a two-star recruit out of high school. Despite that, Bell eventually found a home at Michigan State, where he tore it up for the Spartans.

Bell still played other sports in high school and did very well. At 6-foot-1 and 225 lbs, Bell was a very good basketball player. Bell’s stats were unavailable, but he was a second-team All Ohio Capital Conference member for his senior season.

So you may think, why didn’t I say Bell should play basketball? Well, because his size and stature would be a poor fit in basketball, and his stats were unavailable for the sake of this piece. With that said, high jumping was where Bell really impressed.

He was recognized as one of the best high jumpers in all of Ohio. His best was 2.03 meters, which is incredibly impressive. The athleticism and hops he had and further developed in basketball, paired with the lateral quickness he has developed throughout his football career, would make for the makeup of a scary good jumper.

Matched with the level of skill you have to have to succeed in one of the best athlete breeding states in Ohio, that shows how much potential was truly there with his high jumping abilities. Although Bell is an incredible back with a distinguished resume, what if he held out entirely and went out for the Olympics in 2018, or better yet, what if Bell was a high jumper out of high school rather than chasing his dreams of football? Would we be talking about Lev Bell, the olympian instead?

New York Knicks: Ntilikina hits daggers against USA

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New York Knicks, Frank Ntilikina

New York Knicks point guard, Frank Ntilikina, hit the biggest shots of his life against the USA this morning.  France defeated USA 89-79 in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup.

While we watch and cheer for the USA, Knicks fans also want to see Ntilkina succeed.  Ntilikina ended up with 11 points on 5/9 shooting from the floor, 56%.  He added 3 assists and a steal.

However, the confidence and aggressiveness Ntilikina displayed down the stretch helped propel France over USA.

Ntilikina did not have a god first half and usually he would not get another chance to redeem, if this was the Knicks.  However, the overwhelming support and positive remarks from his coach and teammates had faith in him.

Ntilikina had a strong, catch and drive with France down 5 points.  This is what Knicks fans want to see out of him.  He appears to be playing with all the confidence in the world with France and improving on his aggressiveness.

With France down 3, Ntilikina hit a gigantic 3 for France tying the game at 76.  As you can see, the confidence was pouring out of Ntilikina, as he took a few dribbles and sunk the contested shot.

As if those first few were not enough, Ntilikina then even hit an even bigger 3 for his home country.  Ntilikina was feeling it since he nailed a contested step back 3 to basically seal the game for France.

This is exactly what fans want to see out of Ntilikina.  This is the confidence boost that he needs to turn himself into a valuable piece for the Knicks future.  Everyone knows what Frank could be and hopefully this is the start of that.

In the FIBA World Cup, Ntilikina is showing that if he is given support, he can produce for his team.  All we can say is, hopefully coach David Fizdale was watching this game and begins to have the confidence in Ntilikina that his home country coach and teammates already have.