Background Athletes tend to have better visuomotor performance than do sedentary individuals. However, several basic visual-function and perceptual parameters remain unexplored to date. In this study, we investigate whether differences exist in visual function, performance, and processing between basketball players and individuals without a sport-involvement background. Methods A total of 33 healthy men with no visual impairment or pathology were divided into 2 groups based on their involvement in sport (semi-professional basketball players and sedentary individuals). We tested their baseline heart rate variability (HRV) in the resting position apart from subjective questionnaires to determine their physical fitness level, and checked their visual function, performance, and processing through an extended battery of optometric tests. Results The 2 groups differed in resting HRV parameters (p < 0.001), which confirms their dissimilarities in regular time practicing sports per week. The basketball players showed a closer breakpoint and recovery near point of convergence, higher fusional-vergence rate, better discriminability halos, and eye-hand coordination (all p < 0.05). Conclusion These results evidence that athletes, basketball players in this case, exhibit better performance in several visual abilities in comparison with a group of individuals without sporting backgrounds, which suggests an improvement due to the systematic involvement of those skills during basketball practice.