With two well-reviewed selections in the top 20 of the first round, few teams felt a more immediate jolt from the 2023 NBA draft than the Houston Rockets. It showed on the court at summer league, and particularly in strong showings by No. 4 pick Amen Thompson (pre-injury) and No. 20 choice Cam Whitmore, who won MVP.
Even so, summer league games aren’t nearly equivalent to what each rookie will see in the 2023-24 regular season. Besides an obvious jump in talent and age, those real games also feature real uniforms, as opposed to each team’s scaled-down version worn in the summer.
There was one exception to that general rule, though. At an official rookie photo shoot in Las Vegas, the Rockets had both prospects put on their regular NBA jerseys for the first time as a professional. For Thompson and Whitmore, who are just 20 and 19 years old, respectively, it made for quite a fun and memorable day.
Here’s a look at some of the best photos from that shoot, which was held on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).