Imagine being an NBA draft prospect. You come into a pre-draft workout with an NBA team with enormous pressure, knowing you potentially might have millions of dollars on the line based on how you play. And then, if you’re working out for the Phoenix Suns, they ask you to run full-court sprints for three minutes.
Welp.
The Suns call it the “three-minute run” and it’s a famed part of their pre-draft workouts ever since general manager Ryan McDonough arrived from the Boston Celtics. For three minutes, NBA prospects must sprint up and down, with each time touching the line counting once. Here’s Malik Monk doing it at his workout with Phoenix, clearly worn out after reaching the final few sprints up and down the court.
A tradition unlike any other: The infamous 3-minute run at #Suns predraft workouts. Malik Monk got to 25. pic.twitter.com/izn4xbVFfm
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) June 6, 2017
Twenty-five isn’t bad, but it’s not the best. The all-time leader is apparently a tie between Sixers guard T.J. McConnell and former BYU guard Tyler Haws, who went undrafted in 2015 and ended up playing overseas. They both reached 28 3⁄4 up-and-backs during his three-minute run, according to ArizonaSports.com. Another notable Sun, Devin Booker, managed 26 times before the clock ran out.
How hard is this? The prospects do this last, after workouts that often include 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 play. On a regulation NBA court, 28 up-and-downs equals half a mile. The very fastest humans can run the mile in under four minutes, some even cracking the three-and-a-half-minute mark, but these are basketball players not built for sprinting speed who also have to change direction after every lap.
It begs the question: How many could you run?
I’m in moderate shape, or at least that’s the lie I tell myself so I don’t feel bad about having a third IPA when I’m out. I play basketball a few times each week and my normal warm up is a couple quick up-and-downs just to get the blood circulating. That’s four right there.
My optimistic guess is 15. If it’s after a couple hours of playing full court, then let’s say 12 or 13. I wouldn’t sprint to start them off, which I think the prospects probably do. The other thing I might do differently than the prospects is die once I finished, but I don’t have a million-dollar contract on the line, so it’s fine. Just tell my editor that I’m gonna miss my deadline.
So, leave us a note: How many could you run?