In an alternate reality, Kris Humphries might have been an incredible Olympics swimmer.
The Atlanta Hawks detailed Humphries’ impressive swimming career as a 10-year-old. The Hawks forward was so good, he posted the year’s fastest 100-meter butterfly time for his age group over the likes of multiple time Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. For real.
Humphries beat Phelps in 1990 by nearly a full second in the 50-meter fly.
He also beat Phelps by nearly four seconds in the 100-meter freestyle.
In the 50-meter freestyle, he beat Ryan Lochte by more than three full seconds.
The Hawks report Humphries’ swimming career spawned from his family’s love of the sport, but he soon grew out of competitive racing after falling in love with basketball. He told People Magazine in 2003 he got burnt out from the sport.
“I was so good at a young age that I got a little burnt out,” Humphries said. “I also grew up in the Michael Jordan era … for me, I watched [basketball] and saw it as a challenge. It’s hard to stay focused on something when you have a ton of success at a young age, so I picked up basketball a little later and rolled with that.”
Humphries should sleep well knowing he made the right career pivot, as the 31-year-old has played in the NBA for more than a decade and has earned $40+ million throughout his career. Perhaps he could have been a decorated Olympic swimmer, but that’s a massive what-if. If the passion wasn’t there, it wasn’t there.
At the end of the day, being an NBA rotation player and telling people you once beat Lochte and Phelps in a race should be more than good enough for Humphries. No one else can say the same.
[Atlanta Hawks / Image via Instagram]
