Professor Charles Xavier, leader and founder of the X-Men, is famous for being one of the most gifted psychics in Marvel Comics. So it might come as quite a surprise to learn that this nerd was once on a mission to spend his life playing basketball -- until his mutant ability ruined his love of the game.
Believe it or not, according to Uncanny X-Men #180, Professor X was actually once a star basketball player. The issue was written by Chris Claremont and was the last issue before Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1, serving somewhat as a prologue. For the first time in decades, the fantastic founder of the X-Men, Professor X regained his ability to walk. Rather than go for a stroll through the X-Manor, the very first thing the professor chooses to do with his newfound ability to walk is play basketball.
The issue opens with Professor X energetically dribbling the ball around the court, having an absolute blast, playing out fantasies of giant crowds in his head. When Storm approaches, Xavier reveals the full extent of his (abandoned) athletic past. Due to his skill on the court and his ability to handle himself so naturally, Storm questions if he was previously an athlete, and Charles explains how his basketball career in college came to a crossroads with the emergence of his psychic abilities.
With the ability to control things with his mind, it comes as no surprise that he was able to sink basket after basket, but it was actually his ability to read minds that put him ahead of the rest. Since Xavier can scan the mind of his opponent, Professor X always knew their next move, giving him the ability to dribble past them or steal the ball with ease. It is this very advantage that ultimately leads to Professor X quitting the sport entirely, as his superior moral character would simply not allow him to carry on crushing the competition in such an unfair way.
While it's a shame we never got to see Charles take on the NBA, it's definitely for the best, otherwise, the X-Men may have never been formed to begin with. This does raise the idea of superhero sports though, and how cool it would be to see different heroes facing off against each other in different competitive athletic games. Dreaming up the different ways in which different heroes could apply their powers to sports could very well make for a spin-off series in itself.