After spending 25 years in the game, I’ve seen quite a bit. From
dusty high school gyms to pro locker rooms, I’ve had the incredible
fortune to play with and against some of the most gifted athletes on
the planet. Guys who were simply built different, could jump out of
the gym, move and react with an ease and smoothness that’s hard to
appreciate, and routinely display the kind of skill that can only be
honed through thousands and thousands of hours on the court. Players
with unreal combinations of all the physical attributes that favor
the sport of basketball.
As for me, I was
fortunate enough. I was physically gifted, in average terms, and
combined with a shit ton of work, I was able to play professionally
for 12 years. I’m 6’7″, played around 220lb and I could move
and jump relatively well (very, very past tense). But let’s be
honest, compared to the best of the best, I was a pretty good donkey
trying to run against thoroughbreds. Now, that’s not self-deprecation
because I could play, and I could shoot the piss out of it, but it is
the reality of the situation. I mean my parents dealt me a pretty
good hand, but when I started getting to the bigger tables and upper
tiers of this sport, you realize just how rare true elite athleticism
is. Most people will never understand how fast, powerful, and
coordinated those guys really are.
And the crazy part is
that most of them, like in other major sports, don’t train for
strength at all. They’ve already won the genetic lottery, so a lot
of them get away with doing a bunch of nonsense in the gym (if they
even go at all) and still dominate. I’ve seen hundreds of guys jump
on and off of wobble boards, foam roll and stretch, but never once
squat, pull, or press, and still drop 30 like it’s nothing.
But here’s the kicker: imagine what they could do if they actually
trained and didn’t just grow into their bodies with age and maturity,
like you see in their college years. Imagine if they made themselves
objectively and measurably stronger under a bar, with real weight,
using structured, progressive overload. Imagine if they took that raw
athleticism and built a foundation that was freakishly strong to
support it. The results would be terrifying.
Lebron,
Genetics, and the Illusion of Training Like Him.
Millions of average
players watch the LeBrons in the weight room and think to themselves,
“If I just do what he does, I’ll be like him too.” But here’s
the hard truth: you’re not LeBron James, you never will be, and
it’s not even close. And trust me, you do not want to squat like
him anyway because it’s fucking awful. Have a look on YouTube if you
don’t believe me.
The truth is that
LeBron could vacuum his living room and still be faster, stronger,
and more explosive than 99% of people who’ve ever picked up a ball
because he’s a one-in-a-billion outlier. At 16, he was built like a
freight train, and as an 18-year-old rookie, he was already stronger
and quicker than most grown men in the NBA, and the League – need I
remind you – is already full of freak athletes. That’s how
ridiculous he was and still is.
The size, speed,
explosiveness, jumping ability and other insane gifts? He didn’t
build that in the weight room – his parents gave it to him. His
frame was forged by genetics, not by training. If you don’t believe
me, go check out his high school tapes and watch that man-child play
against what looked like children.
Now, this isn’t to
say LeBron doesn’t work, because he absolutely does. He’s famous
for his discipline, his commitment to honing his craft and is beyond
meticulous about his recovery. But what he’s doing now is the
maintenance of greatness, not training. What this man does is not
a blueprint for someone trying to become the best athlete that they
can possibly be.
Still, imagine what
could have happened if this dude had trained with barbells from the
start. What if LeBron had a 750 deadlift, a 650 squat and a
bodyweight press, which, honestly, would be nothing for him. As
insane as it sounds, this man may have left something on the table
because that’s the power of strength built with barbells. It’s
objective, scalable, and can unlock a physical potential and
resiliency that most athletes haven’t even touched.
The
GOAT Who Got It Right – When Michael Jordan Figured It Out
If you want a
real-world example of what happens when the greatest player of all
time decides to get stronger, look at Michael Jordan.
The Bulls were
eliminated by the Detroit Pistons three straight years in the
playoffs in 1988, ’89, and ’90. Those series were brutal (and
back when you could hand check on defense) and some of the best
basketball to watch if you’re a purist. The Pistons strategy was to
beat the shit out of Jordan every time he touched the ball and thus
the infamous “Jordan Rules” were born. They boiled down to this: make
him go left and beat the hell out of him every time he touched the
paint. Hit him, foul him, wear him down, frustrate him. Make him feel
it and make his teammates beat you.
And it worked – until
it didn’t.
After that third loss,
Jordan had enough. He hired Tim Grover, started lifting seriously,
and transformed his body. What started as a 30-day trial ended up as
a 15-year relationship. Like many players at the time, MJ had
believed weights would slow him down or mess with his shot but he
came to discover that he was dead-ass wrong.
He added 15 pounds of
muscle, hardened his frame, and returned the next season with the
same skill, same speed, same insane competitiveness, except now, he
could dish out the punishment too. The result? He never lost again.
Six Finals appearances. Six rings. Six Finals MVPs. Zero Game 7s.
Coincidence? Doubtful.
He got stronger and the league never had an answer for him again.
Strength
is the Foundation of Performance and Longevity
Basketball is violent,
explosive, and fast-paced beyond what most people can comprehend. It
demands performance across every physical domain: speed, agility,
quickness, reactivity, endurance, coordination, all while managing
complex skills like shooting, passing, spatial awareness, playing
within a system, not to mention having to always play both sides of
the ball.
At the highest level,
I’d argue basketball players are the best athletes in the world. In
what other sport are most guys 6’8” and above and display this array
of physical gifts in a game that demands so much skill? I mean, a
good chunk of the NBA could probably give it a go in the NFL and hold
their own in one position. The opposite? No. Basketball simply
requires too much skill to jump in at even mediocre levels.
But
here’s the issue: today’s players are becoming so explosive that
their muscles can often produce more force than their tendons,
ligaments, and joints can safely handle. Their explosiveness – a
genetic gift from mom and dad – far outpaces the strength and
durability of their supporting structures, which are often left
underdeveloped. Why? Because those structures are only adapted to the
repetitive, fast, submaximal stresses of practices and games. Most of
these dudes only practice and play leaving out the vitally important
slow, progressively heavier loads of barbell training that actually
force these same structures to adapt.
It’s
like stuffing a Ferrari engine inside a frame built for a Honda.
Sure, it’ll run for a while, but eventually, something’s going to
blow. That’s why we’re seeing more non-contact injuries like ACL
tears, patellar tendinitis, and chronic ankle and foot issues. These
aren’t just freak accidents – they’re often the result of their
bodies being pushed harder and longer than these structures are
adapted to tolerate. Some will get away with it, but a whole bunch of
them won’t.
Now,
to be clear, players do get stronger as they get older, because
they’re growing up and maturing, but that is not the same thing as
getting strong. Real, deliberate strength training – the kind that
makes a barbell 5lb heavier every workout – strengthens the very
structures that explosive athletes rely on to display their natural
gifts. Without it, the show doesn’t last and believe me, they all
want to do this as long as they possibly can. The frame, with time,
can crack under the engine, and unfortunately for some, quite
prematurely.
While
no training program eliminates injuries entirely, many of these
issues could be mitigated or delayed if connective tissues were
forced to strengthen and adapt to continue handling the demands of
the athlete’s own natural gifts. An NBA player with a big squat and
deadlift is making the foundation that he intends to rely on for
years stronger and more likely to last. It’s not that fucking
complicated – long-term resilience requires more than just talent
and luck, it requires system-wide strength that you actually have to
train for.
Players don’t need to
live in the weight room but they do need to get strong. A correctly
executed barbell strength training program delivers more value than
hours of circus tricks, gadgets, or the “functional” bullshit you
see lingering in gyms, studios, and online.
And look, I usually
cringe at the word functional because it’s become a code word for
“fuck everything of actual value.” Some trainer straps a band
around your ankle, has you balance on one leg on a BOSU ball, and
calls it “functional” because it kind of looks like something
he’s seen somewhere. But here’s the thing:
Basketball is already
functional. The positions and movements in the game literally mirror
the basic barbell lifts. Not metaphorically, but literally.
Don’t
Believe Me?
Drop into a proper
defensive stance. Hips back, knees out, back more horizontal, feet
planted and balanced. That’s not a squat, that’s The
Squat. You can’t be on your toes or back on your heels because you
will get cooked by any offensive player of skill. I assume this is
why I taught myself to squat pretty quickly, and every single
basketball player who has come through Brussels Barbell can squat
damn near perfectly on their first rep. We’ve been in that position
our entire lives and could do it in our sleep.
What they haven’t
done, however, is load it. They haven’t built the force
production and control under a heavy load that barbell training
develops. The squat teaches you to produce force from basically that
exact stance. And when you do, defense gets a hell of a lot easier,
staying low through contact becomes second nature and you become
difficult to move in a game. The worst guys to play against were
always the ones you couldn’t move. The guys who turned every play
into a wrestling match. That’s barbell strength in real life.
And no, in a game, you
probably won’t hit full depth every time you play defense (crease
of the hip below the top of the patella) like in training, but
strength built through a full Range Of Motion means you’re stronger
in every other position within that ROM. I wish more folks understood
this very important concept. Strength built over the full ROM is
available through all parts of that ROM.
The deadlift builds the
posterior chain, namely the glutes, hamstrings, adductors, and spinal
erectors, and teaches you to get tight, maintain tension, and absorb
force. That means stronger hips, knees, adductors, and spine, which
are the foundation for every jump, cut, sprint, and landing. I
suspect there would be far fewer adductor strains in the game if
these dudes squatted and shoved their knees out while doing it.
Boxing out? That’s your
forearm in someone’s chest, hips low, feet shoulder width – in
short, an abbreviated squat. Fighting through a screen? That’s your
back, hips, and legs resisting movement through contact. Coming off a
screen and not getting bumped off your route? That’s whole-body
strength, not body-part strength, and you either have it or you
don’t. The barbell gives it to you. And deceleration, one of the most
overlooked aspects of elite athletic performance, is just force
production in reverse. Going full speed and stopping on a dime isn’t
just “agility.” It’s eccentric strength, and it is trainable.
What about the upper
body lifts? The overhead press builds shoulders, triceps, and upper
back – precisely what you shoot with – and teaches full-body
tightness and control. Shoulder injuries are becoming more common in
the NBA and I suspect that virtually nobody is pressing the barbell
overhead correctly and building a strong press. Coincidence?
Doubtful. Upper body lifts reinforce the shoulder girdle, including
all the little physiotherapy muscles, and protects you during mid-air
collisions and hard landings. If you’ve ever been hit midair with
your feet above your head, you know how important that is.
The bench press
develops horizontal pushing strength and raw upper body strength for
shielding the ball, keeping defenders in front of you, holding them
off under the glass, absorbing contact, and finishing strong at the
rim. While you technically can’t “push” anyone with straight arms
like you can in football, upper body strength still matters, and no,
it won’t mess up your jumpshot. Benching or pressing 3×5 twice a
week won’t undo 1,000+ jumpers a day. So relax, you’ll be just
fine.
The
Power Clean is Going Up Through Contact
The power clean is the
weight room equivalent of going up strong through contact, with
someone hanging on your arms. It trains explosive hip and knee
extension, which is the same kind of power you need to rip a ball
through a defenders arms or finish through contact at the rim. Now
think with me here: you rebound the ball, take a power dribble with
both hands (the ball is at or below the knees), and explode upward to
finish while someone’s fouling you across the arms.
In the clean, you’re
moving the bar explosively from below the knee to the shoulders and
if you’ve trained this lift, you’ll be far more capable of
finishing through that contact. You’ll convert more and-ones, and
become a real problem for defenders. Remember that athletes at this
level are already frighteningly powerful and explosive, so imagine if
they get their cleans into the mid 300s. You’re talking about a real
issue for opposing players.
It’s full-body power
(strength produced quickly) and coordination under load. Olympic
lifts like the clean & jerk and snatch do the same, giving
players the tools to be more explosive and more efficient – and
harder to handle.
Barbell
Training Mimics Basketball
Defensive stance?
That’s a squat.
Boxing out? Squat or
deadlift setup with your elbow in someone’s chest
Exploding through
contact? That’s a power clean.
Holding your line off a
screen? Full-body force production.
Stopping on a dime?
That’s eccentric control. That’s strength.
You don’t need
gimmicks to “train like basketball player,” my friends – you
need a barbell.
Get under the damn bar.
Basketball is evolving.
Players are faster, more skilled, and more explosive than ever, and
that means their bodies are under more stress than ever. If their
structures can’t handle the load, something will give over time.
It’s just that simple.
Strength alone won’t
make the player – this is built on the floor, and I would never say
otherwise. Hell, I did it without lifting much, but I sure wish I
had. But these guys at the top? They already have the skills, but
what they don’t have is true structural strength. That’s why
barbell training is no longer optional, it’s essential. It makes
you harder to injure, harder to move, and harder to stop. It doesn’t
take hours and hours either, it takes focused, efficient effort a few
times a week.
If you’re serious
about your game – whether you’re in high school, college,
overseas, or in the league – you need to get under the bar. Now.
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