Rockets’ Amen Thompson Sprains Ankle In Debut

JULY 8, 2:46pm: An MRI on Thompson’s ankle revealed that he has a Grade 2 sprain and will be sidelined for three or four weeks, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). While we won’t see Thompson again in Summer League, there’s no reason to think he won’t be ready for training camp in September.


JULY 8, 5:39am: Although Thompson’s injury isn’t viewed as serious, he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday and is very likely to be held out of action for the rest of Summer League, per Kelly Iko and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).


JULY 7: Scoot Henderson wasn’t the only top pick injured in his NBA Summer League debut. Unfortunately, Rockets guard Amen Thompson, who was selected directly after Henderson at fourth overall, appeared to suffer a lower left leg injury late in the same game (Twitter video link via ESPN).

Thompson was clearly in a lot of pain, but he was eventually able to gingerly walk off the court with assistance, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

A source tells ESPN’s Tim MacMahon that Thompson suffered a sprained ankle that isn’t considered serious (Twitter links). The 20-year-old said the team’s staff will determine whether or not he plays again in Summer League.

It’s pretty sore,” Thompson said, per MacMahon.

Thompson showed flashes of tantalizing upside in his marquee matchup with Henderson, finishing with 16 points (on 6-of-13 shooting), five assists, four rebounds, four blocks and three steals in 28 minutes against the Trail Blazers. The Rockets wound up winning the game on a Jabari Smith buzzer-beater.

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