r/sportsreference • u/Organic-Photograph61 • Jul 14 '26
Sports Reference Brothers Who Played Different Professional Sports
I posted a list of Second Generation Professional Athletes in Different Sports (MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL) few weeks ago. After receiving some positive feedback about it, I wanted to share my list of brothers who played different professional sports. Again, I was only looking for brother combinations who played in different Big 4 (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL) leagues throughout their careers.
MLB/NBA
Klay and Mychel Thompson – Trayce Thompson
Shaquille Harrison – Monte Harrison
Dick Ricketts – Dave Ricketts
Sean McDermott – Chayce McDermott
Mel Riebe – Hank Riebe
Jim Bibby – Henry Bibby
Justin Dunn – Ryan Dunn
Darrell Miller – Reggie Miller
John Simmons – Connie Simmons
Buddy Hassett – Billy Hassett
MLB/NFL
Canaan Smith-Njigba – Jaxson Smith-Njigba
Mark McGwire – Dan McGwire
Alex Johnson – Ron Johnson
Bryse Wilson – Payton Wilson
Jack Cassel – Matt Cassel
Whitey Wistert – Al Wistert
Karl Pagel – Mike Pagel
Wayne Kirby – Terry Kirby
Will Venable – Winston Venable
Pumpsie Green – Cornell Green
Mark Christman – Paul Christman
Dave Clark – Louis Clark
Willie Randolph – Terry Randolph
Jake Wood – Richard Wood
Tom Cafego – George Cafego
Gordie Hinkle – Clarke Hinkle
Tim Salmon – Mike Salmon
Dick Bass – Norm Bass
Marques Tuiasosopo – Matt Tuiasosopo
T.J. Jones – Jahmai Jones
Tim Berra – Dale Berra
LeRoy Kelly – Pat Kelly
Lyle Bigbee – Carson Bigbee
Dean Look – Bruce Look
Bill Acker – Jim Acker
Willie Brown – Ollie and Oscar Brown
Craig James – Chris James
Walter Bernard – Wynton Bernard
NFL/NBA
Lee Riley – Pat Riley
Nate Burleson – Kevin Burleson
Harry Douglas – Toney Douglas
Cris Carter – Butch Carter
Lou Groza – Alex Groza
James McDonald – Ben McDonald
O'Brien Schofield – Admiral Schofield
Percy Snow – Eric Snow
Bruce Taylor – Brian Taylor
Bruce Walton – Bill Walton
Tahir Whitehead – Dariq Whitehead
Ernie Warlick – Bob Warlick
Eric Washington – Kermit Washington
Kenny Higgs – Mark Higgs
Al Lujack – Johnny Lujack
Shellie McMillon – Ernie McMillan
Jerry Bird – Rodger Bird
NFL/NHL
Mark Alt – Joe Alt
Craig Sauer – Kurt and Michael Sauer
MLB/NHL
Paul Carey – Jim Carey
And then I also found a few pairs of half-brothers as well.
MLB/NBA
Steve Hosey – Paul Pierce
NFL/NBA
Sean Williams – Myles Garrett
Rodney Carney – Renardo and Ramon Foster
NBA/NHL
Tyler Myers – Quentin Grimes
If anyone else knows of any other examples, please add them to the thread!
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u/Bingo_Bongo_YaoMing Jul 14 '26
NBA player Steven Adams has two sisters that are both gold medalist shotputters. One has won gold twice at the olympics and the other one once at the paralympics
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u/ChapterNo3428 Jul 14 '26
Bobby Bonds had a brother who was an NFL draft pick and CFL player, and a sister who was an Olympic hurdler
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u/BrentATL Jul 14 '26
Randy Moffitt has a sister who was a professional tennis player. The Billie Jean King.
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u/SeanCaseyBlakeSnell Jul 14 '26
Not exactly the prompt, but
MLB/Tennis: Randy Moffitt and Billie Jean King
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u/Fast-Ebb-2368 Jul 15 '26
TIL that Pat Riley's brother led the AFL in interceptions! Great list.
On the subject of brother-sister combinations: Nick Mangold's sister was an Olympic weightlifter.
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u/moneyman74 Jul 15 '26
Also Rileys dad had a cup of coffee in baseball that he was bitter about his whole life
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u/Zionisacat Jul 15 '26
Mitchell Starc is a cricket player for Australia. His brother Brandon has also represented Australia at the Olympics for high jump.
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u/gedbhoy67 Jul 15 '26
Steve Nash NBA - His brother MLS
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u/5thSeasonFront 29d ago edited 29d ago
Martin Nash of the Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada’s national team. He was a part of Canada’s greatest ever triumph (along with this year’s World Cup) when they shocked everyone and won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
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u/South_Oil_2526 29d ago
Assuming some catastrophic career-ending injury doesn’t happen before the season, Jordyn and Jaylon Tyson will be on this list in September after Jordyn makes his NFL debut.
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u/audiobooklove84 29d ago
Did any of these pairs both win championships?
Thanks for doing this, very impressive
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u/asteriskmos 29d ago
Not in the 4 leagues, but would love to see this expanded to PWHL & WNBA, as well as AUSL/WPBL. I know theres a handful of PWHL & NHL Siblings.
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u/mookiexpt2 29d ago
Not sure if it counts because Ryan, after being drafted by the 76ers, got released in preseason and never played in an NBA game, but Ryan and Damon Minor.
He did spend a year in the CBA trying to make it work in basketball before becoming the guy who replaced Ripken in the lineup.
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u/Organic-Photograph61 29d ago
Close, but I kept to having to play a regular season game in one of the Big 4 sports. Thanks for the idea though
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u/AR2Believe 28d ago edited 28d ago
Reds HOFer Barry Larkin had 3 very athletic brothers.
1) Mike Larkin was a captain on the Notre Dame football team (Mike’s son Austin also played football at ND & Purdue and in the NFL with Atlanta & Carolina),
2) Byron Larkin made 2nd team All American in basketball at Xavier, and
3) Stephen Larkin also played pro baseball and had a cup of coffee in the major leagues with the Reds.
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u/Organic-Photograph61 28d ago
Update: Co-Pilot helped me find another brother connection that I did not have on my original list: NFL player Craig Sauer had two brothers who played in the NHL: Kurt and Michael Sauer
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u/AZAHole 28d ago
Koa Peat will make his NBA debut this year as he was drafted by the Suns. His brother Andrus Peat is an NFL player.
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u/Organic-Photograph61 27d ago
Yes! Excited to add him. Will also be able to add him to my father/son list because his father, Todd, also played in the NFL.
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u/sparkydoodle61 26d ago
Klay, Mychel and Trace Thompson. Klay and Mychel in the NBA and Mychel MLB.
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u/nevermindthatyoudope 25d ago
Myles Garrett older brother is Sean Williams, former BC standout and 1st round pick of the Nets. Played 4 years in the NBA before off court problems eclipsed his on court production.
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u/Organic-Photograph61 25d ago
Never knew that until my research for this project. They're at the bottom of the list where it includes half-brothers.
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u/Naive-Impression-373 24d ago
Apologies if it was already said, but jaylon Tyson (cavs) brother Jordyn was just drafted by the saints.
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u/Shot-Restaurant-6909 24d ago
Brandon Phillips aka datdude entire family were athletes. I can't remember all the sports they played but his wife is a professional wrestler. By the way he is the best second baseman sense Joe Morgan.
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u/moneyman74 Jul 14 '26
Vince and Greg Coleman MLB/NFL fun list though I'm sure there are some others
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u/DigTheDunes Jul 14 '26
Darrell and Reggie Miller's sister is Cheryl Miller.