Jalen Green

Drafted in 2021 by Houston as their second overall pick, Jalen Green, the 6’4” shooting guard whose mom Bree Puruganan hails from Ilocos Sur, has rightfully earned his starting spot with the Rockets.

Now in his fourth and in the best season of his career with the franchise, he is the main reason why the Rockets are sitting second at the Western Conference standings with his team-leading 21.6 points per game.

Recently signed to a 3-year, $106 million contract extension, Green is trying to lead the Rockets to the playoffs alongside Fred Van Vleet (14.8 ppg), Amen Thompson (12.8 ppg), Alperen Sengun (19.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and Dillon Brooks (13.2 ppg).

Since late November last year, Green’s play had been great for Houston.   His last five games had him average 30.2 highlighted with a 42-point and a 34-point effort in wins against Memphis and Denver.  They had won seven of their last ten games.

But there seems to be a problem.  As in the past season, Green has this burst of energy that seems to reach its peak at a certain time, and it tapers off.  Their recent loss against Detroit had him score below his season average.

Aside from the players mentioned above, Houston has three other players scoring in double figures.  Green is the team’s alpha dog but there is a need for him to sustain his dynamic style of play if he is to become the Rockets’ franchise player.  His consistency will be the key if Houston intends to compete in the post season.

Houston has depth and is boasting a solid defensive frontcourt of Sengun, Thompson, Brooks, Jeff Green, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, Jabari Smith, Jock Landale and the immovable Steven Adams.

Before his rookie season, Green signed a shoe deal with Adidas, joining NBA stars James Harden, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Donovan Mithcell, Anthony Edwards and the now retired Derrick Rose.  He debuted his player edition AdiZero 3.0 in their game against Portland with his logo on the heel.

A signature logo on a player-exclusive colorway is usually the last step for a player to get his own basketball shoe.  Expect Adidas to release Green’s shoe in a few months.