Houston Rockets defensive menace Amen Thompson happens to be a native of Oakland, Calif., but his loyalty to the Golden State Warriors only went so far as he was growing up.
Thompson, who was a fan of Cleveland Cavaliers legend LeBron James, admitted during a podcast appearance that he turned against the Warriors when they started battling James, likely in reference to the NBA Finals from 2015 through 2018.
“I was a LeBron fan — I’m not gonna lie,” Thompson began. “I didn’t dislike the Warriors until — I actually liked the Warriors until they had to start playing LeBron. And then I’m like, ‘Okay, now I hate the Warriors.'”
The Warriors and James’ Cavaliers met in the championship series for four years in a row in the 2010s. Golden State took three of those four titles, but the one that Cleveland won came in style, with the Warriors building a 3-1 series lead before the Cavaliers stormed all the way back.
It’s unlikely that Thompson likes the Warriors any more these days than he did when they were battling James and the Cavaliers in the championship series after what the team did to his Rockets in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. His Rockets held the No. 2 seed in the West, but they got bounced by the No. 7 seed Warriors in seven games in the opening round.
But Houston almost pulled off a 3-1 series comeback like the Cavaliers did in 2016. The Rockets forced a Game 7 after they dropped three of the first four games of the series. Thompson all in all played very well in his first taste of playoff action at the NBA level, as he averaged 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks per game in the series.
Thompson and the Rockets are hoping that they will be able to advance deeper into the 2026 NBA Playoffs after they added an elite scorer to the fold. Houston traded for star forward Kevin Durant earlier this offseason. The 15-time All-Star has averaged 27.1 points per game for his pro career.
It’s a credit to James’ longevity that he’s still going strong in the NBA years removed from all his playoff battles against the Warriors. He’s the oldest player in the league at 40 years old and heading into his eighth season playing for the storied Los Angeles Lakers franchise.