I can only talk for my experience... Not a pro, there was a time I hanged out with olympians and sport dedicated people. I was a diversified "jock" different than most, one of the many things to do. But my first major in College was physical education... all jocks... one signed pro baseball as a freshman and left school right away... Lotsa track and field... The usual basketball players that went to our league. Amateur league but with a lot of diet money and other percs involved. But those guys... all they have was the sport. A couple like me could draw... a couple were interested like me on being ladies men... musicians here and there, good enough to be his real career, music. I am sure some became great teachers. When you are a professional and has free time to do whatever you want to do in the off season is different. I always heard the Great Roberto Clemente was a great pool player... maybe good enough to be a professional if he wanted to but he developed that skill after becoming a baseball player. Some pros are great musicians like Wayman Tisdale R.I.P. Some are not that great and reason they record is because they can afford to pay studio money. Some may become actors... some good, most not. At time is not the skill what open them a door... is the sport. And there is the "fakes", like they said Curtis Flood was not really a painter. That his portrait work in the 60's was all fake. They are all Humans like the rest of Us... sometimes that is all they got... sometimes they can afford developing a new skill. Sometimes they don't. And many often enough wanted to do something else all their lives just like us. The Freaks are good at several sports but normally they relate to the same set of skills... We all knew dion sanders was great at football and good at baseball but my nephew played basketball against him on a church charity game and told me he was great at basketball too... he still an asshole in my book but a very skilled one.

I played basbeball before an injury took me out permanently and i saw many come and go. Players with amazing skill and others meh not so much. One thing i can say is the work that is put into it that's the amazing part, yes you get some very few who are just gifted. Many of us practiced for hours a day everyday of the week even off the field

Yeah..that's why the "big fish in a small pool" situation brings more glory to the athlete, such as a moderately talented high school runner from a small school winning all the races.

However, when I was growing up in Haiti as an MK (missionary kid), one of my fellow MKs so impressed me with his rock skipping skills, I got a crush on him and we were "boyfriend/girlfriend" at the annual all-mission summer camp, or when both our families were at the same mountain vacation place.

I tried my best to copy his throwing technique, sort of unhinging my arm and drawing it back almost behind me before launching the rock. I doubled my throwing reach, but I couldn't even touch his 40-skip throws out into the breakers along the beach.

I thought I was just a "sissy girl" who couldn't throw, but when I mentioned this to his younger brother a few years ago, he just stared at me.

"Don't you know that they tried to recruit him for the minor leagues? His fast balls were clocked at professional level speeds."

I felt better after that.