Michael C. Wright

1 month ago | espn.com | Michael C. Wright

HOUSTON -- A dejected Jalen Green grabbed Amen Thompson in the locker room just as he walked past after the Rockets' Game 7 loss on Sunday and quietly expressed his love for him. Two days later, coach Ime Udoka and general manager Rafael Stone expressed similar sentiments toward the entire Houston roster, as the team plots its next steps after its first playoff appearance in five seasons ended in the first round at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

1 month ago | espn.com | Michael C. Wright

LOS ANGELES -- Rudy Gobert had playoff career highs with 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves advanced in the NBA playoffs with a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series Wednesday night. Anthony Edwards had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who won three straight games to eliminate LeBron James and Luka Doncic from their first postseason together.

1 month ago | espn.com | Michael C. Wright |Michael Wright

HOUSTON -- With his team down 3-1 in its first-round playoff matchup against the Warriors, Amen Thompson leaned against the wall and stared out into the gym at Houston's Memorial Hermann training facility, smiling as smooth R&B music hummed in the background. "[I feel] amazing," he said at the Rockets' morning shootaround Wednesday.

1 month ago | espn.com | Michael C. Wright

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stephen Curry changed direction with a behind-the-back dribble as Amen Thompson pursued. Once Thompson planted to run the opposite direction, Draymond Green decked the 22-year-old with a crushing screen that left him writhing in pain. Not a second later, Curry hit the floor, too, the aftermath of a Dillon Brooks body check that set off a minor skirmish. As usual, the Houston Rockets flexed the requisite physicality to thrive in the postseason.

1 month ago | espn.com | Michael C. Wright

THE DAY AFTER the visiting Denver Nuggets ended the Houston Rockets' nine-game winning streak in late March, Amen Thompson stepped in front of his teammates at the team's newly opened 75,000-square-foot training facility. Finally, it was his turn in the team-bonding exercise: Tell your life story in five minutes. "Everybody goes over the time," Thompson told ESPN. He couldn't help it.