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THE DAY AFTER the visiting Denver Nuggets ended the Houston Rockets‘ nine-game profitable streak in past due March, Amen Thompson stepped in entrance of his teammates on the workforce’s newly opened 75,000-square-foot coaching facility.
Finally, it used to be his flip within the team-bonding workout: Tell your lifestyles tale in 5 mins.
“Everybody goes over the time,” Thompson advised ESPN.
He could not lend a hand it.
Spinning necessarily the similar two narratives into one because the Rockets leaned in intently to pay attention, the soft-spoken Thompson defined how the younger guy sooner than them had grown up within the Oakland, California, house with an ultra-competitive similar dual brother, Ausar Thompson, born a minute later, in a supportive circle of relatives that performed an integral function in manifesting desires jotted down on a circle of relatives imaginative and prescient board as 9-year-olds.
“They’re like that if you know their background and history,” Houston trainer Ime Udoka advised ESPN. “So, we got to learn a little bit more about Amen’s background than we already knew. Anytime you have a twin brother that’s in the position that they’re in, you just know they came up going at each other. Their father [Troy Thompson] got after them and obviously grew them into who they are. Their competitiveness was always there.”
Amen and Ausar, now 22, are the primary twins in league historical past to be drafted within the height 5 (Amen used to be drafted No. 4 through the Rockets and Ausar adopted at No. 5 with the Detroit Pistons) and are making their playoff debuts of their 2nd seasons as cornerstone items for a couple of franchises on the upward push.
Amen admits he “wasn’t expecting it,” including that Ausar “always believed since last year” that the twins would severely vie for a Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2025.
“It’s super cool,” Ausar stated. “Last year, Amen was talking a lot about us. They had 41 wins. We had 14. He was like, ‘Flip the number around and that’s how many wins y’all got.’ But I was like, it doesn’t matter. Y’all didn’t make the playoffs. We didn’t make the playoffs. Now he can’t say that. We made the playoffs the same year. All he can say is they’ve got a better record. I promise you next year it won’t be.”
Amen’s Rockets are down 0-1 to the Golden State Warriors, and can glance to even the sequence Wednesday evening. Ausar and the Pistons, in the meantime, snapped a 15-game postseason shedding streak, the longest in NBA historical past, with a win over the New York Knicks on Monday evening and can glance to take a 2-1 lead because the sequence heads to Detroit on Thursday.
For now, although, Amen desires to concentrate on the existing. He’s “not doubting [Ausar’s predictions] anymore” however envisions a grander image for the Rockets and the Pistons within the 2025 playoffs.
“I want to see him in the Finals,” Amen advised ESPN. “That would be fire. But just one of us wins. I know who that’s going to be.”
Clearly, the brothers disagree.
“Man, we would whoop ’em,” Ausar advised ESPN. “This year, when we played, when we had all of our players, we beat them.”
ON THE NIGHT the Rockets bested the Utah Jazz 143-105 to turn out to be the second one Western Conference squad to punch its postseason price tag, Amen leaned again at his locker within the Toyota Center and chuckled, reminiscing about his circle of relatives’s imaginative and prescient board.
The twins’ mom, Maya Wilson, forbade the men from taking part in soccer. So, through age 7, their father, Troy, used to be operating Amen and Ausar via basketball drills put in combination years sooner than for his or her older brother, Troy Jr., who performed at Prairie View A&M and is considered through the twins as “the blueprint” for his or her luck.
That day by day grind sparked a dream for the twins, who percentage the center title XLNC (pronounced “excellency”).
“They’re special people,” Pistons trainer J.B. Bickerstaff advised ESPN of the Thompson circle of relatives. “You can tell they instilled in them that the team was greater than any individual and that there was more to it than just being a good basketball player, and the importance of being able to take care of yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, all of it.”
Thumbtacked to a wall in penmanship spectacular for a couple of 9-year-olds, the Thompson circle of relatives imaginative and prescient board used to be titled “Amen & Ausar’s 6’9″ Dreams,” written in graffiti with markers above a drawing of a black-and-white camouflage Nike Air Foamposite One sneaker. Just underneath, the goals followed, each marked with a star.
“Yeah, my dad all the time believed in writing down what you sought after to do,” Amen told ESPN. “It’s writing down like principally simply affirmations. I disregard what I wrote. But it used to be simply writing it down so that we have got a tenet and issues we had to do to get there.”
Below the goals, the twins wrote a 10-step daily to-do list just above their signatures scribbled in cursive.
“Some of the stuff in there used to be more or less loopy,” Amen said. “We used to do it, although. But a few of that stuff used to be laborious to do on a daily basis.”
No. 1 on the list was “run 2 miles dribbling left-handed,” then “200 pushups, 200 sit-ups, 50 pull-ups, 500 calf raises, squat whilst gazing TV.” The last two steps were “devour nutrients on a daily basis, wholesome meals, and milk,” ending with No. 10: “hustle as laborious as conceivable all the time.”
Troy always wanted the boys to compete with the same relentless ferocity and hustle as Russell Westbrook. They acquiesced. Eventually, friendly pickup battles morphed into brawls. It reached the point that Troy no longer wanted his twins to play against each other one-on-one.
“Whoever misplaced would simply get started preventing and stuff,” Amen said. Ausar claims “it used to be all the time Amen who began it,” which Amen does not deny.
“He would get so mad,” Ausar said. “We’d get house, and he’d nonetheless be mad. Our dad can be like, ‘Alright, we are occurring a non secular stroll.’ And it could be simply him and my dad, and they would stroll possibly like 4 miles. It’s humorous.”
In one instance, Amen says a scuffle he started resulted in a 14-mile hike.
“I’d be so mad, particularly if Ausar did not have to head, and it used to be simply me at the hike,” Amen said.
Did Amen’s punishments make Ausar feel guilty?
“Hell no,” Ausar said. “He used to be looking to harm me. I’d attempt to cross house, and he simply would not allow us to cross house [until he won]. So, it is like, ‘Yeah, you do not want to head house? Go do this non secular stroll up the hills.'”
The competitiveness spilled over to highschool at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the place they transferred after leaving California simply sooner than beginning the 8th grade. Highly seemed for its teachers, Pine Crest allowed Amen and Ausar to play varsity basketball as 8th graders.
By the top in their junior season, they’d ruled for 4 years on varsity, main Pine Crest to a state championship on easy methods to changing into Co-Players of the Year for Classes 4A-2A. The alternative to enroll in Atlanta-based Overtime Elite, a brand new skilled basketball league that aimed to offer athletes another trail to the NBA, would come as soon as the twins began the AAU season.
They determined to skip their senior 12 months at Pine Crest to decide to OTE, because of the league’s 24-hour get entry to to a gymnasium, NBA-level running shoes and coaches, and top-notch pageant — to not point out the minimal $100,000 wage.
Amen stated he instantly noticed enhancements in his recreation.
“But I still feel like when we were in the predraft [process], because we were on OTE, people thought we were not going to be ready for the league because they said we were playing against 15- and 16-year-olds,” Amen advised ESPN. “Just making up lies for a narrative. We played up our whole lives. And if I’m running [away from competition], I can only run for so long. We’ve always wanted to be the best. You can’t be the best and run.”
The 6-foot-7 twins with wingspans of just about 7 toes performed two seasons with OTE sooner than Houston and Detroit drafted Amen and Ausar fourth and 5th, respectively, within the 2023 NBA draft.
“Everybody says they have dogs on their teams,” Udoka advised ESPN. “Some are pit bulls and some are poodles. We try to go get pit bulls. He’s exactly what we want, need, look for, all of the above. We love guys with his length, athleticism and versatility. He fits. Everything he brings to the table, we were thrilled to get him at the spot we got him. He was the guy we fell in love with. He fits everything. He fits the mold of the modern-day NBA, but also of what we’re trying to do here.”
Bickerstaff felt in a similar fashion about what he sought after to deliver to Detroit.
“You want guys who are versatile and who can impact the game on both ends of the floor, and you are looking for tough, competitive, fierce dudes that are willing to do whatever it takes and guys who are willing to sacrifice,” he advised ESPN. “Ausar is all those things. He is what you’re looking for.”
THE THOMPSON TWINS remaining noticed one every other in Miami in March, when the Heat hosted the Pistons and Rockets in back-to-back outings that became out to be victories for the visiting groups. Armed with flexible two-way ability units and explosiveness, the Thompsons considerably impacted the end result of each contests as number one defenders on Tyler Herro.
Amen flashed probably the most eye-popping show. Miami had defeated Houston in a December matchup marred through six ejections that incorporated Thompson, Herro and Udoka within the ultimate minute. And a sore ankle saved him out of the former six outings going into that matchup.
Defending Herro basically, Amen notched seven steals and a block as Houston became 21 Heat turnovers into 24 issues. The Heat guard fared higher two nights prior towards the Pistons. But either one of Ausar’s steals that evening got here whilst guarding Herro.
Former Denver Nuggets trainer Michael Malone described movie clips of the Thompson brothers from this season as “incredible.”
“You’re really seeing both of those guys this year growing into their own, making a name for themselves,” Malone stated. “Their athleticism, their ability to guard 1 through 5, how strong they are, how fast they are [is impressive].”
Amen may well be moderately additional alongside in his construction than Ausar, because of the latter lacking the remaining 19 video games of his rookie season and the primary 18 video games of his 2024-25 marketing campaign on account of a blood clot factor. Ausar did not make his season debut till Nov. 25.
“You can go back and almost look at the numbers directly,” Bickerstaff advised ESPN. “When he came back and was playing minutes, our pace picked up because he’d get rebounds or he runs the floor, pushes and attacks. He’s a really good passer and offensive rebounder. Defensively, he’s just a menace. He’s just all over the floor. He’s grown so much. But I think a lot of it just has to do with him being able to play and getting those games under his belt.”
Udoka sees identical enlargement in Amen, who joined the Rockets as some extent guard basically. When Alperen Sengun suffered an damage remaining season, Amen stuffed in at energy ahead, honing his talents as a screener and curler. Amen additionally spent a number of time on the dunker spot and moved to indicate guard for lengthy stints this season when Fred VanVleet overlooked prolonged time because of damage.
“So, he took all of that and added it to his toolbox,” Udoka advised ESPN. “He has pretty much played every position, and I think those experiences of different things he hadn’t done before is what’s really propelled him. He was a point guard and only knew one way to play: get out in transition, make passes, get to the basket. Now the fact that he can roll under and play in the dunker and do all those different things has expanded his game.”
From Dec. 23 to the top of the common season, Amen and Ausar are the one two avid gamers within the NBA to log 100 offensive rebounds and 125 blended steals and blocks. While Amen holds a slight edge over Ausar in manufacturing on a per-game point, the numbers stack up in a similar fashion on a per-36-minutes foundation.
According to GeniusIQ, an AI-powered sports activities analytics website, Amen and Ausar rank within the height 5 in moderate leap peak (2.38 toes and 2.28 toes) when making an attempt a layup or dunk this season. Defensively, Ausar ranks 5th in box objective share allowed (38.8%) because the contesting defender amongst avid gamers to protect 400-plus pictures, in keeping with GeniusIQ. Amen ranks 6th however can be first within the league if the brink for minimal shot contests used to be raised to 700 pictures.
Ausar completed the common season ranked No. 3 in defensive estimated plus-minus, trailing Alex Caruso and Kris Dunn, whilst Amen ranked 5th in the back of Victor Wembanyama.
“I want to be even more aggressive on-ball, attack more and explore my game while attacking,” Ausar advised ESPN. “The main thing is just exploring what I’m already great at, which is getting to the rim, finishing or getting into that mid[-range] area.”
Amen may be certainly one of two avid gamers this season to tally 80 steals and 80 blocks, along side Jaren Jackson Jr. He’s the primary Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon (1998-99) to achieve this feat.
For the entire skill and basketball IQ they have got proven of their first two seasons within the NBA, the Thompson twins perceive they wish to reinforce as shooters to in reality thrive within the league. Until that occurs, they’re going to proceed to flex the bodily gear that were given them to the NBA with an emphasis on impacting video games in any respect conceivable.
“It’s refreshing to see a young player lean into their strengths,” Utah Jazz trainer Will Hardy stated. “The draft process is weird for young players because they get picked apart and told all the things they’re not good at. And sometimes their minds shift to trying to prove everyone wrong. A big part of establishing an identity as a young player in the NBA is step one, don’t tell on yourself, and [step two], lean into the things that you’re good at now to try to impact winning while improving the other parts of your game.”
Ahead in their first-round video games, the twins will ship every different a regimen textual content message: “Go kill.”
“I just want to see him do well, honestly,” Ausar advised ESPN. “I used to get nervous watching his games. But now I don’t. He plays like 40 minutes a night. So, it’s like I’m just watching it as entertainment now. I expect him to do amazing.”
If just one is taking part in, the opposite will probably be gazing, realizing precisely what they are feeling in every second out at the flooring. It’s now not dual telepathy, however moderately a question of familiarity.
“If I’m watching, I can tell what he’s feeling just by his face,” Amen advised ESPN. “It’s not a [sixth] sense or anything. He would say the same thing. Like, he’ll send a TikTok or we’ll send each other a TikTok at the same time, and it’s the exact same TikTok. So, there’s some stuff like that. But sixth sense? Nah, you’ve just been around the guy your whole life, you know? Our story is basically the exact same story.”
ESPN Research contributed to this record.
