- Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson were selected with back-to-back picks in the 2023 NBA Draft.
- The 20-year-old brothers crafted an ambitious fitness and training routine when they were just kids.
Double trouble is headed to the NBA.
Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson made history Thursday night by becoming the first set of siblings selected in the top five of the same NBA Draft. Amen — who is just one minute older than his brother — went fourth overall to the Houston Rockets, while the Detroit Pistons selected Ausar with the very next pick.
The Thompson twins have long had confidence in their professional basketball prospects, so much so that they developed an ambitious fitness and training routine when they were just kids.
"It makes us look like 9-year-old geniuses," Ausar told TODAY's Craig Melvin.
According to their hand-written list — a sort of vision board the duo aptly labeled "Amen and Ausar's Basketball Dream" — the brothers aimed to "run 2 miles dribbling left handed," complete "200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 50 pull-ups, 500 calf raises," and "squat while watching TV," and "make 200 or more shots" each day. They also included goals that didn't directly relate to their basketball skills, such as reading and writing.
Some of their ambitions, like growing to 6-foot-9, weren't within reach. Amen and Ausar clock in two inches shorter with identical 7-foot wingspans.
Still, the intense work ethic showcased via their elementary school plan has paid off; now that they're officially headed to the NBA, the twins are one major step closer to achieving their ultimate goal of becoming "the greatest NBA player of all-time."
"They've been raised a certain way and they've shown that they are stellar young men," their mother, Maya Wilson, told Melvin.
"We let them lead the way," she added. "This was their dream, and we made sure that we had everything available to them so that they could manifest and see that into fruition."
Check out the full interview below: