Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson weighs in on the comparison between a high school NBA player and a track athlete

Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson recently expressed his take on the comparisons between high school NBA players and track athletes. This discussion came forward after incredible performances by some track athletes at the Penn Relays 2024.

Michael Johnson has been trying his best to promote track and field to a wider audience and eventually make it a global phenomenon. He hopes track and field returns to its previous glory and becomes popular like the NBA and the NFL.

Johnson often expresses his thoughts revolving around sports on his official social media handles, be it regarding athletes or sporting organizations and events. He recently weighed in on the comparisons between high school students playing in the NBA and high school track athletes.

The legendary Olympian believed that high school track athletes would be competent enough to compete against professional athletes if they clocked race times as per senior standards. However, on the other, he believed that high school NBA players would be able to outplay a league basketball on a particular day but that would not be the case if we look at the bigger picture, which is the entire NBA Season.

"A really good high school basketball player may be able to outplay an NBA player on a given day. Doesn’t mean he can outplay him throughout the NBA season. But in track if a high school kid runs a fast time once, we’re ready to put them on par with the pros," he tweeted.

Michael Johnson on his new venture to create a fan-focused league

Michael Johnson during Media Interview Sessions - Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid 2024

Over the last five years, Michael Johnson has been a staunch advocate of track and field, and this year, he announced that he had partnered with Winner's Alliance to create a fully fan-focused league that would elevate track athletes to a wider audience and eventually make track and field glorious once again.

Michael Johnson took to X to introduce his new venture to the world.

"BIG things coming to professional track & field!," he captioned the video.

"Hey everybody, just wanted to come out here and let you know how excited I am about my new track venture. I have teamed up with some great partners and together we are making the biggest investment ever into professional track and field to build a professional truly fan-focused league that will unlock commercial value for the best track and field athletes in the world," he said.

The joint venture aims to create a TV-friendly league that would feature some of the best track and field athletes in the world.