How many letters does the top answer for “an athlete who plays basketball” have?

The most common answer is cager (5 letters).

Crossword clue: an athlete who plays basketball

1 answer found in Letterora's clue database (Wikidata facts, Open Trivia DB, WordNet and Webster definitions — all licensed sources).

cager 5 letters wn-def

an athlete who plays basketball

an athlete who plays baseball 50% similar → ballplayer

an athlete who plays cricket 50% similar → cricketer

an athlete who plays for pay 50% similar → pro