Kevin Durant has been very open about the fact that he despised the experience he had at the NBA draft combine, and he is encouraging top prospects to not make the same mistake he made.
Durant, who admits he was embarrassed 10 years ago when he could not bench press 185 pounds, has some very simple advice for the 2017 draft class.
“Stay your a– home, work out and get better on your own time,” Durant told Chris Haynes of ESPN.com on Wednesday.
Durant, one of the top five players in the NBA, was taken by the then-Seattle Supersonics with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2007 draft. The way he was ridiculed for his shortcomings on the bench press has very much stuck with him.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “All the strength coaches were laughing at me and s—. They were giggling with each other that I couldn’t lift 185 pounds, and I was like, ‘All right, keep laughing. Keep laughing.’ It was a funny thing, because I was the only one that couldn’t lift it and I was struggling to lift it. I was embarrassed at that point, but I’m like, ‘Give me a basketball, please. Give me a ball.'”
Not being able to bench press 185 didn’t hurt Durant’s stock. The Portland Trail Blazers had likely already made up their mind about taking Greg Oden first overall. Durant said he knew there wasn’t a player in his draft class who could guard him, but the combine process still angered him.
“I knew as a basketball player I had a lot of skill, more skill than anybody in the draft. And I knew that if I worked as hard as I could, then that s— wouldn’t matter at the end of the day,” he said. “It still doesn’t matter. I was ranked the last person in camp, drills-wise. I was the worst player, and the first player didn’t get drafted. That tells you a lot about the significance of that s—.”
The combine has become less popular in the past 10 years, with top prospects in the upcoming draft like Lonzo Ball, Malik Monk and Josh Jackson already saying they will not take part. Durant lauded them for their decision.
“They don’t want to deal with that B.S., and I understand that. But back then, I wish I would have known the power I had or I probably wouldn’t have done it, either. … If you’re a top-10 pick or a first-round pick or whatever and you know you might be guaranteed, stay your a– home, work out and get better on your own time.”
We shared our opinion on Durant’s bench press (in)ability years ago, and that opinion still stands. In this case, it didn’t matter if he could bench 70 pounds or 270 pounds. I bet the Trail Blazers would agree with that more than anyone.
