Before De’Aaron Fox’s shot could clear the rim, Amen Thompson’s eyes darted towards the Rockets sideline. In Houston, nothing triggers an Ime Udoka tongue-lashing faster than a blown defensive assignment, and Thompson, his dynamic second-year swingman, seems to collect more than his share of earfuls. General manager Rafael Stone estimates Thompson’s ratio of scoring to getting yelled at by Udoka “is pretty close to 1-to-1.”
The situation is irrelevant. Practice, preseason or, in this case, a late February game against San Antonio. As a rookie, Thompson would often chafe at his head coach’s blistering critiques. “Sometimes he’ll look at you like he is crazy mad,” says Thompson. Lately, he’s learned to understand if not appreciate the feedback. “I hold him to a high standard because of the things he can do,” says Udoka, now in his second year in Houston. “I don’t want any bad habits. We know how good he can be.”
These days, the secret is out. Thompson, 22, a long, athletic, Swiss Army knife of a defender—part of a Rockets’ core of long, athletic, Swiss Army knife defenders—has had a standout sophomore season. His scoring, rebounding and assist totals have improved, while January saw Thompson named the Western Conference’s Defensive Player of the Month. Udoka deploys him like a weapon. On quick guards like Fox. On long power forwards like Cleveland’s Evan Mobley. “When I coached Kyrie [Irving, in Brooklyn], you would be wowed at something he did offensively every night,” says Udoka. “It’s the same thing with Amen on the defensive end. You can’t teach what he does.”
Offensively, Udoka has pushed Thompson to develop the same versatility he shows at the other end of the floor. Consider: When Fred VanVleet missed five weeks earlier this year, Thompson shifted to point guard. He averaged 5.9 assists per game during that stretch. “When he came into the league people were always wondering how he was going to fit in,” says Kings coach Doug Christie. “My man is a hooper. They have unlocked him here.”
It couldn’t have come at a better time. As the postseason begins, the league has never been more wide-open. The last six Finals have featured a remarkable nine different teams. (The previous six series had a total of four.) In 2020–21, Houston was the worst team in the NBA. The franchise that finished just ahead of them: Oklahoma City. Over in the East, the Cavaliers were a 22-win squad.
Now, just four years later, Houston has evolved into a formidable contender. Meanwhile, OKC and Cleveland, which became just the sixth team with multiple winning streaks of at least 15 games in a season, are among the front-runners to make the Finals.
“I hold him to a high standard because of the things he can do. We know how good he can be.” Ime Udoka, Rockets coach
If Houston is going to compete, Thompson will be a reason why. The Rockets have long known they had … something. There was the athleticism. In 2023, weeks before tabbing Thompson with the fourth overall pick, Houston assembled a handful of would-be lottery picks for a workout. Thompson was there, as was Anthony Black, a similarly sized swingman from Arkansas. “Black’s a solid athlete, solid handles,” says Udoka. “But the twitch was just different.” The only player to match that athleticism, Rockets officials say: Thompson’s twin brother, Ausar, who went one pick later, to the Pistons.
Developing Thompson, says Udoka, involved making him uncomfortable. Coming up, Thompson—who spent two seasons playing for Overtime Elite, the prep-to-pro program for teenagers looking to bypass college—played on the ball. It’s something the Rockets liked about him, a skill Stone says separated him from Ausar. As a rookie, Thompson played more off the ball. Udoka used him as a screener and as a roller. He plugged him in at power forward, forcing Thompson to learn how to defend bigs. “He didn’t know how to do a lot of these things,” says Udoka. “But he needed to become more well-rounded. And he’s a quick learner.” When center Alperen Sengun went down last March, Thompson started 17 of 18 games to finish the season. Houston won 12 of them.
Leadership, at least the vocal part, didn’t come naturally to Thompson. When VanVleet went out this season, Udoka pushed Thompson to be more assertive. He would harp on being louder with play calls, using shootarounds like rehearsals. “More demonstrative,” Udoka says. Thompson did, earning the respect of his teammates. “Nothing he does surprises me,” says VanVleet. “Special player, special talent, special kid. It’s fun to watch him dominate.”
No one would call the Rockets dominant—not yet, anyway—though Houston is a factor in the West for the first time since the James Harden era. Maybe more. At the February trade deadline Stone shut down all attempts to pry loose any of the Rockets young talent, preferring to see what this group can do. They will get their first chance on Sunday, when Houston opens up its anticipated first-round series against Golden State. “It’s one of the reasons we kept things static over the summer, too,” says Stone. “Our guys are not finished products. We believe in these guys. We think we should get better month after month.” None more than Thompson, whose ceiling, the Rockets believe, is yet to be in sight.
In San Leandro, Calif., the court outside Bancroft Middle School was little more than a concrete slab bookended by a pair of rickety rims, with a quarter-mile track wrapped around it. For the Thompsons, this served as a full- service gym. Drills were run on the pavement. Dribbling, defense, shooting. Variations of the Mikan drill—where players attempt different types of layups—were part of a daily routine. “Off different feet, no backboard, Euro steps,” says Thompson’s father, Troy. Beginning in elementary school, Troy would drop the twins off early with a list to run through. Occasionally, he would pretend to drive away—only to park nearby to make sure they did them.
Skills were honed during pickup games. Five-on-fives first. Troy Jr., the twins’ older brother by eight years, brought them into his games. As the crowd winnowed, the Thompsons would go at it. It was two-on-one when Troy Jr. was around. “Double teaming him didn’t matter,” says Amen. “He’d score and we’d cry.” When Troy Jr. went off to college—he played two years at Prairie View A&M—the twins spent countless hours battling each other.
It was in these late afternoon games that the brothers’ competitive streak came out. Wins were celebrated. Losses were … not. Games would frequently get physical. If Amen thought Ausar was going easy, he would call him out. “He’d threaten to quit,” says Amen. “I’d tell him we’re not leaving until I win.” Frequently, fights would break out. “If you watched them back then,” says Troy, “they would literally play every game like it was their last.”
That’s where the track came in. Punishments were more drills. Left-handed dribbling, two miles, eight times around. Defensive slides until their thighs burned. Long hikes around Lake Chabot. “You would think that would make us stop fighting,” says Amen. “But we were so competitive, we’d go right back doing the same things the next day.” Troy denies the drills were punishment. “It was good for them,” he says. The hiking? Amen, his father says, had a little mean streak. When it came out, he’d have him climb a few extra miles.
A defensive identity was forged early. Troy played high school ball at Blanche Ely, in Pompano Beach, Fla. Among his teammates was Eddie Jones, a three-time NBA All-Star. The philosophies back then were simple: play physical defense on one end, attack the rim at the other. He developed his sons the same way. Other sports were used to develop basketball skills. To improve leaping, they played volleyball. For footwork, he put them in ballet. “Basketball was the only aspiration they had,” says Troy. “I’m not surprised they made it. They were always so single-minded about it.”
When the Thompsons were tweens playing against college-age kids, shots were hard to come by. “You had to be a role player,” says Amen. That meant defending. Amen grew up a fan of two-way players. Kawhi Leonard. Kobe Bryant. LeBron James. “They robbed LeBron of a DPOY in [2013],” says Amen. In games, he would insist on defending the opponent’s top player.
Udoka loves that competitiveness. Thompson’s skin, he says, is like Teflon. “As far as being someone that’s not going to take anything personal or get too sensitive about it,” says Udoka, “he is the least of my worries.” In his system, it’s an asset. Udoka compares Thompson to Ben Simmons, a 6' 10" do-everything defender who played for the 76ers when Udoka was an assistant in Philadelphia. “When Ben was at his peak, you put him on anybody and he’s going to take somebody out with his size and strength, foot speed and physicality,” says Udoka. Offensively Simmons was a more natural playmaker but Udoka says, “there’s some of that in Amen, too.”
“Basketball was the only aspiration they had. I’m not surprised they made it. They were always so single-minded about it.”Troy Thompson, Amen and Ausar’s father
And an eagerness to learn. Veteran swingman Dillon Brooks has become a mentor. The two defend differently—Brooks relies more on strength and physicality—but Thompson has absorbed plenty from one of the NBA’s top wing defenders. As a rookie, Thompson had a habit of reaching in late in the shot clock. Brooks stayed in his ear, reminding him to stay disciplined. “I don’t do that much this year,” says Thompson. His coach agrees. “When you show him something, he’s got it,” says Udoka. “His understanding of how to guard has really improved.”
When Houston approached Thompson about tweaking his shot—he made just 13.8% of his threes as a rookie—he embraced the chance to correct his one glaring weakness, working regularly with Rockets assistant Ben Sullivan to perfect his form. Ball placement, sequencing, extending the follow-through. Whatever Sullivan suggested, Thompson embraced. “Nobody had to convince me,” says Thompson. “It’s what I needed to do.”
Occasionally, that competitiveness crosses a line. Thompson has had a handful of visible incidents. An elbow to the neck of Maxi Kleber against Dallas last season. Hurling Tyler Herro across the floor late in a loss to Miami in this one. In February, Thompson was ejected after pulling Giannis Antetokounmpo down by the neck. Udoka isn’t interested in reigning in Thompson—just making sure he knows where the line is. “If you’re going to hit someone, hit him in the chest, not the neck,” says Udoka. “He’s too valuable to get kicked out.” Adds Thompson, “I never want to be known for that stuff. I want to be known for basketball.” Antetokounmpo, for what it’s worth, said later he loved it.
Udoka wants to keep Thompson on the right side of that line. But he doesn’t want him too far behind it, either. The Rockets are built to bully. Brooks, a famed antagonist, won’t back down from anyone. Thompson, too. Tari Eason is an athletic defender in the Thompson mold. Jabari Smith Jr. has more length than all of them. In Boston, Udoka built an aggressive, switching defense that powered the Celtics to the NBA Finals. In Houston, he believes he can do the same. “There are more parallels than people probably think,” says Udoka. “Boston was more advanced because of age but playing together, playing defense and sharing the ball is the same message across the board, whether you are 25 or 22.”
There’s a formula for winning championships. Draft players? Check. Develop them? Check. Nonetheless, it’s still normally a lengthy process. After a 52-win season, the Rockets are hoping to shorten the time. In January they took back-to-back games off of Cleveland. A few days later, they won in Boston. Thompson scored 33 points in that one, including the game winner. In a postgame interview, he said he felt like Kobe. “He can be a top 15-level player,” says Udoka. “All-NBA level. People are seeing flashes. We see more.”
More each day. Last summer, with the season long over, Thompson and Smith met for a game of one-on-one at the Rockets’ practice facility. Friendly game, until the last point. That’s when any drive to the rim resulted in a hard foul. “Took 20 minutes to finish,” says Thompson. So who won? “Ask him,” says Thompson, smiling. Whatever. To beat Thompson, you have to earn it. In Houston, the mindset is the same.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Amen Thompson Primed to Soar As Houston Launches NBA Title Chase.
