Houston Rockets rookie Tari Eason is already one of the NBA’s best hustle players, and he showed why again on Wednesday.
Eason, who was selected by the Rockets as the No. 17 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, put on an absurd display during Houston’s victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The former LSU standout recorded his third consecutive double-double, and in the process, he gave the Rockets one of the most memorable sequences of the season.
During the fourth quarter, after recording a block on the defensive end of the floor, Eason somehow recorded a steal and five offensive rebounds within a five-second span:
🚀 20 PTS
🚀 13 REB
🚀 2 BLK
🚀 3 STL
🚀 50.1 FPTSHave a night, Tari Eason! #Rockets pic.twitter.com/kRAg8iZNHs
— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) February 2, 2023
Take a moment and watch that one more time because it’s something you will not see on an NBA court again any time soon.
Just look at the way this sequence was written in the box score and note how active Eason is on both sides of the floor:
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) February 2, 2023
Eason finished with 12 offensive rebounds, which is the second-most of any player in the league so far this season. He also had a career-high 20 points in the game.
The rookie defines what it means to give all-out effort when on the court.
He leads the league in loose balls recovered per 36 minutes (minimum: 200 minutes) and he leads all rookies in deflections and steals recorded so far this season. Overall, his Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (dEPM) ranks in the 95th percentile among all players in 2022-23.
