Blake Griffin who benched 22 reps. / photo: Keith Allison – Wikimedia (cropped)

How much can NBA prospects bench press for reps? Most years this century the NBA draft combine has included a bench press test. Unlike the NFL draft combine, in which prospects bench 225 lbs. (102 kg.) for reps, NBA prospects bench 185 lbs. (84 kg.) for reps. Not every top basketball prospect participates in the combine. Most notably, Lebron James, with nothing more to gain, opted out of the NBA draft combine in 2003 before being chosen first. However, a surprising number of legends over the past two decades have participated and have gone horizontal to show how many reps they could bench with 185 before joining the NBA. Some put up big numbers, some—including one future Hall of Famer—couldn’t eke out even a single rep.

Let’s look at the NBA combine bench press records and how NBA All-Stars performed in this bench press test.

NBA COMBINE BENCH PRESS RECORDS

28 NBA prospects bench pressed 185 lbs. for 22 or more reps. Here’s the honor roll, with no new additions since 2010. Those who subsequently played in the NBA are highlighted in yellow. Only one, 6-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffen, made an All-Star roster.

27 REPS

2003  Jason Keep

26 REPS

2006  Kenny Adeleke

2006  JP Batista

2005  Joey Graham

2008  Josh Duncan

nba combine bench press
Joey Graham, who played six NBA seasons, holds the bench press records for NBA players.

25 REPS

2007  Russell Carter   

2003  Brandon Hunter

2006  Paul Miller        

2003  Theron Smith   

2006  Shelden Williams

24 REPS

2008  Joey Alexander

2006  Brandon Bowman

2002  J.R. Bremer

2002  Chris Burgess

2003  Sam Hoskin

2000  Justin Love

23 REPS

2010  Luke Harangody

2001  Nate James

22 REPS

2010  Trevor Booker   

2008  Takais Brown    

2010  Derrick Caracter

2001  Maurice Evans  

2000  Gabe Muonee 

2004  Chris Garnett    

2002  Udonis Haslem 

2004  Kris Humphries 

2009  Blake Griffin     

2004  Emeka Okafor   

NBA combine bench press
Udonis Haslem launched his NBA career with 22 reps at the 2002 combine and only retired this year. / Keith Allison – Wikimedia

NBA-ALL STAR BENCH PRESS PERFORMANCES

In addition to Blake Griffin, at least 54 others who benched at the combine went on to earn NBA All-Star status. Of these, Al Horford put up a big 20, Kevin Love got 18 reps, and James Harden 17. Steph Curry weighed in at 185 and then benched 10 reps with his bodyweight. Kawhi Leonard is now noted for strength, but only managed three reps back in 2011. And long-armed Kevin Durant is one of the prospects who infamously failed to get a single rep, though it didn’t matter in long run, as Durant was drafted second and has had a Hall of Fame career.

Al Horford 20 reps (2007)

Kevin Love 18 reps (2008)

NBA combine bench press
Kevin Love cranked out 18 reps back in 2008. / Keith Allison – Wikimedia

James Harden 17 reps (2009)

Chris Kaman 15 reps (2003)

Paul Millsap 15 reps (2006)

Jameer Nelson 15 reps (2004)

Victor Oladipo 15 reps (2013)

Deron Williams 15 reps (2004)

Jimmy Butler 14 reps (2011)

Jimmy Butler put up a respectable 14 reps. / All-Pro Reels (cropped)

Richard Jefferson 14 reps (2001)

David Lee 14 reps (2005)

Carlos Boozer 13 reps (2002)

Kyle Korver 13 reps (2003)

Damian Lillard 13 reps (2012)

Jeff Teague 13 reps (2009)

Isaiah Thomas 13 reps (2011)

Gilbert Arenas 12 reps (2001)

Joe Johnson 12 reps (2001)

Joakim Noah 12 reps (2007)

Michael Redd 12 reps (2000)

Amare Stoudemire 12 reps (2002)

Russell Westbrook 12 reps (2008)

David West 11 reps (2003)

Steph Curry 10 reps (2009)

Danny Granger 10 reps (2005)

Gordon Hayward 10 reps (2010)

Donovan Mitchell 10 reps (2017)

Chris Paul 10 reps (2005)

Glen Rice 10 reps (2013)

Derrick Rose 10 reps (2008)

Derrick Rose benched 185 lbs. for 10 reps. / Soletron

Andre Drummund 10 reps (2012)

Chris Bosh 9 reps (2003)

Draymond Green 9 reps (2012)

Dwayne Wayde 9 reps (2003)

LaMarcus Aldridge (2006)

Bradley Beal 8 reps (2012)

Devin Booker 8 reps (2015)

DeAndre Jordan 8 reps (2008)

Nikola Vucevic 8 reps (2009)

Carmelo Anthony 7 reps (2003)

Brook Lopez 7 reps (2008)

Rudy Gobert 7 reps (2013)

Dwight Howard 7 reps (2004)

Kemba Walker 7 reps (2007)

Jrue Holiday 6 reps (2009)

Luol Deng 5 reps (2004)

DeMar DeRozan 5 reps (2009)

Klay Thompson 5 reps (2011)

Paul George 4 reps (2010)

Andre Iguodala 4 reps (2004)

Kawhi Leonard 3 reps (2011)

Caron Butler 2 reps (2012)

Tyson Chandler 2 reps (2001)

Kevin Durant 0 reps (2007)

NBA combine bench press
No reps, no problem: Kevin Durant prefers dunks to bench presses. / Keith Allison – Wikimedia

Check out Joey Graham, Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, and seven more on The Barbell’s 10 Strongest NBA Players Ever

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR