HOUSTON — Rockets rookie Amen Thompson is highly competitive and wants to win at everything he does. That’s especially the case if it means he gets to beat his twin brother, Ausar.
“They have competed at everything since they were younger, which is no surprise considering how much time they spent trying to make each other better,” said Amen and Ausar’s mother, Maya Thompson.
So, it was no surprise that before Amen and fellow rookie teammate Cam Whitmore threw out Friday’s ceremonial first pitch at Minute Maid Park. Minutes before a matchup between Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals, Amen made sure to let the media know that his pitch would be better than one thrown by his twin brother, Ausar — even though he said he had never thrown a baseball a day in his life.
“His was average; mine is going to be better than that,” Thompson jokingly said of Ausar’s first pitch in June before a Tigers game in Detroit, where Ausar was drafted by the Pistons.
Thompson and Whitmore followed the example of their new head coach, Ime Udoka, and threw good pitches to home plate. Throwing out the ceremonial pitch and attending the game are among their final social events as the rookies prepare for training camp on Oct. 3.
Houston Rockets rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Minute Maid Park on Friday. Video courtesy of Houston Astros.#LightTheFuse #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/v680k8FN8E
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) September 23, 2023
Coaches and fans already got a small glimpse of what Houston’s 2023 first-round draft picks (Thompson at No. 4 overall, Whitmore at No. 20) would look like on the court at the same time when they played in the first game of the NBA’s 2023 summer league versus the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, Thompson sprained his ankle in the second half and did not play again in Las Vegas.
From there, Whitmore filled the void and helped lead Houston to the championship game while earning summer-league MVP honors.
“I am very excited for the season,” Whitmore said Friday. “I am very excited for this new program to get started.”
Houston Rockets rookies Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore warmup before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Minute Maid Park on Friday. #LightTheFuse #Rockets #Sarge @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/DKofDgx7pB
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) September 23, 2023
Whitmore is on a mission to prove to teams that passed on the projected lottery pick that they missed out on a great basketball player. During a charity event this summer, he admitted that he was playing with a chip on his shoulder during the summer-league run.
“Yeah, definitely,” Whitmore said of playing to prove the naysayers wrong. “There was definitely some backlash and some madness because of that. I was just having fun out there.”
[lawrence-related id=116667,116655]