Patrick Mahomes is impressed by one particular (non-star) NBA player.
The Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Mahomes was in attendance for Game 3 between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder in Dallas on Saturday. Mahomes is a native of Tyler, Texas and also attended college at Texas Tech University.
The Mahomes are in the 🏠@PatrickMahomes | #OneForDallas #MFFL pic.twitter.com/FmlGJc1vr9
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) May 11, 2024
During the ESPN broadcast of the game, play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch said that Mahomes had told him and his broadcast partner Hubie Brown something interesting about Thunder forward Luguentz Dort during a timeout. Mahomes apparently said that he believes Dort could play in the NFL, possibly as a linebacker.
Patrick Mahomes thinks Lu Dort could play linebacker… hard to disagree! #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on ABC pic.twitter.com/66ZVUTaONh
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
Mahomes is probably not far off. Dort is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds with an over 6-foot-8 wingspan. That is comparable to someone like San Francisco 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who stands 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds. Dort is also known for his physical brand of defense, so it is pretty easy to imagine him helping to anchor a front seven.
Granted, Dort, at $16.5 million per year on his Thunder contract, is already making more annually than all but three current NFL linebackers (Warner, Chicago’s Tremaine Edmunds, and Baltimore’s Roquan Smith). But the LB comparison from Mahomes is probably more flattering than the other comp that Dort once received.
