Houston’s current franchise rebuild unofficially kicked off in January 2021, once perennial All-Star guard and former MVP James Harden forced his way to Brooklyn in a leveraged trade.
The only current Rockets player who was around prior to Harden’s exit — in other words, on a Houston team that wasn’t yet in a rebuild — is defensive minded forward Jae’Sean Tate.
Buy Rockets TicketsNow entering his fourth NBA season, Tate has seen it all over those years in Houston. But flanked by newly acquired veterans such as Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Jeff Green, Tate has higher hopes for the 2023-24 team and what its young core can potentially accomplish.
“I think the rebuild is over,” Tate told reporters this week. “This is a whole new team, a new era of Rockets basketball. I think hunger is the right word… to prove ourselves right.”
Here’s a roundup of what all we heard from Tate at Monday’s media day from Toyota Center. Training camp officially begins Tuesday at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Jae’Sean Tate at 2023 Rockets Media Day
Jae’Sean Tate on the #Rockets and defense: “I think we’re going to be a matchup problem for a lot of teams, because we have so many guys that can guard multiple positions.”
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) October 2, 2023
Jae’Sean Tate, asked to summarize the 2023-24 #Rockets in one word:
“Hungry.”
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) October 2, 2023
Jae'Sean Tate asked about the young guys: "All our young guys are hard workers. There are times we have to shut the gym down because they just want to keep getting shots up. They're not just hard workers, they're great people, Amen and Cam."
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) October 2, 2023
#Rockets Jae'Sean Tate among his opening comments at his 4th Rockets media day, said, "I think the rebuild is over." @SportsTalk790
— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) October 2, 2023
Houston Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate said he enjoyed being at the Houston Texans game on Sunday and he wants to bring that feeling to the Toyota Center…#Rockets #Sarge
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) October 2, 2023
Jae'Sean Tate: "The biggest thing is to get back to winning. Our rebuild is over."
— Jeremy Gretzer (@jr_gretzer) October 2, 2023
