Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has said that he would love to one day have his own basketball franchise.

Suh has a reputation as a hard-man of the NFL, but was apparently a basketball star at high school before signing with Nebraska for football. Suh also has a strong passion for soccer.

He told mLive.com: "I would love to own a sports team. Obviously that's a great ambition to have. I don't know, maybe a basketball team because I love basketball so much.

"I love basketball. That's one of my first loves outside of soccer. If I'm going to pick an NBA player that I kind of patented after, I'd probably say Charles Barkley and a little bit of Karl Malone."

The Lions travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend.