Gene Conley
The trajectory of the only champion athlete in the NBA and MLB is very curious. In the 1952-53 season he debuted in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, between 1953-54 and 1957-58 he played baseball in the MLB with the Milwaukee Braves, between 1958-59 and 1960-61 he dressed again as a Celtics basketball player to return to the diamond again in 1961-62 with the Boston Red Sox, before a final step as power forward for the New York Knicks in 1962-63 and 1963-64. Along the way, he would win an MLB championship with the Braves in 1957 and three consecutive NBA championships with the Celtics between 1959 and 1961.
Danny Ainge
Remembered for being Larry Bird’s Celtics guard, he is the only athlete in history to have been chosen on the first college All American team in American football, basketball and baseball (a sport in which, in 1977, he was selected in the draft by the Toronto Blue Jays at just 18 years old). Ainge played between 1979 and 1981 in the MLB to make the jump to the NBA, where he would play fourteen seasons (Boston, Sacramento, Portland and Phoenix), win two championships with the Celtics and go on to play an All Star Game.
Scott burrell
Known for having been champion with the Chicago Bulls in 1998 and for appearing in The Last Dance as one of Michael Jordan’s favorite victims, it is the only case of a player chosen in the first round by the MLB (pick 26 in 1989) and the NBA (pick 20 in 1993). Burrell can say he was better than Jordan at baseball, but he preferred basketball and played eight seasons in the NBA.
Charlie ward
Former point guard for the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets during his eleven NBA seasons, he was a true multisport athlete. As a college student, he won the Heisman Trophy and the Davey O’Brien Award as a quarterback for American football, as well as winning the NCAA national championship and being inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. However, he wanted to play in the NBA (where he was chosen by the Knicks in 26th place in the 1994 Draft) and that is why he was not drafted by any NFL team (where he had a star destiny). In turn, he was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the MLB Free Agents Draft in 1993 and by the New York Yankees in 1994, despite not playing baseball since high school (where he had also excelled in athletics, tennis and golf).