- Burns was a 275-pounder at NC State, where he led the team to the Final Four.
- He now hopes to be chosen in next month’s NBA Draft in Brooklyn.
DJ Burns says you can keep the Ozempic because he doesn’t need it.
The one-time 275-pound North Carolina State center claims to have lost about 17 percent of his body weight without the controversial drug as he prepares for the NBA Draft.
Listed at 6-foot-9, the burly Burns helped lead the Wolf Pack to last month’s Final Four, where NC State fell to Purdue and 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey.
But since declaring for next month’s NBA Draft, Burns has lost about 45 pounds in less than two months with four 5 a.m. workouts each week.
The weight loss was revealed by Shams Charania on Run It Back, where he shared an image of the slimmed-down Burns.
After beginning his career at Winthrop, Burns transferred to NC State in 2022 and quickly established himself as one of the ACC’s top post players by averaging 12.7 points per game over the past two seasons.
DJ Burns Jr. of the North Carolina State Wolfpack dribbles the ball around Trey Kaufman-Renn
Former NC State star DJ Burns said he lost 45 pounds without Ozempic’s help
Most importantly for NBA scouts, he has shown good touch around the basket by making 54 percent of his 2-point field goal attempts with the Wolfpack.
Despite two solid seasons at NC State, experts still don’t consider Burns a first-round pick, although that could change in the coming weeks.
There had been speculation that the South Carolina native could take the field, and there were even rumors that NFL scouts had taken notice.
However, Burns scrapped that idea after the season.
When asked in April if he had any interest in a football career, Burns bluntly said: “Zero.”
It was a semi-reversal of what happened earlier in the week on the ‘Dan Patrick Show,’ when the senior said basketball was always his first priority, but that “I’m not a closed-minded person.”
Burns said he actually played football when he was younger.
“Until I got my first scholarship offer (for basketball), and then I immediately quit,” Burns said.
Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said he didn’t receive a single call about Burns as a football player and that the game doesn’t really fit his personality anyway.
“There’s no way he’s going to play football,” Keatts said. ‘I mean, listen, he’s got a great touch. He’s not as much of a bully as you think. Did you spend any time with him? He’s a teddy bear off the court.”