The Western Conference’s top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the eighth-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. The two franchises haven’t met in the postseason since 1997, when the Thunder were the Seattle SuperSonics and Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were still patrolling the floor.

Schedule| Odds | Thunder breakdown | Suns breakdown
Head-to-head| Matchup to watch | Key question| Prediction

East: Magic-Pistons • 76ers-Celtics • Hawks-Knicks • Raptors-Cavaliers
West: Suns-Thunder • Blazers-Spurs • Wolves-Nuggets • Rockets-Lakers

Series schedule (all times Eastern)

Game 1: Sun., April 19 at Oklahoma City (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Game 2: Wed., April 22 at Oklahoma City (9:30 p.m., ESPN)
Game 3: Sat., April 25 at Phoenix (3:30 p.m., NBC)
Game 4: Mon., April 27 at Phoenix (TBD)
*Game 5: Wed., April 29 at Oklahoma City (TBD)
*Game 6: Fri., May 1 at Phoenix (TBD)
*Game 7: Sun., May 3 at Oklahoma City (TBD)

*if necessary

Series betting odds

(Via BetMGM)

Oklahoma City Thunder (-3000)
Phoenix Suns (+1300)

What we know about the Thunder

They are the defending champions. They didn’t quite coast to the 2025 NBA title, requiring Game 7 victories against both the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers, but they were a 68-win juggernaut that never quite found its peak in the playoffs … and still won the damn thing. And now they have the playoff scars to show for it.

The Thunder looked the part of a defending champion to begin the season, starting 24-1, even without Jalen Williams, who was recovering from offseason surgery to his wrist. There was talk of 70-plus wins, even a record for most wins in a regular season.

Then, the upstart San Antonio Spurs offered a reminder that OKC is, in fact, mortal, defeating the Thunder three times over a two-week span, all leading into Christmas. Over the next 35 games, the Thunder looked like any other contender, finishing 21-14.

Just as it looked like the Spurs might overtake OKC for the West’s No. 1 seed, the Thunder stepped on the gas again, winning 19-of-20 games down the stretch. (They threw away the final two games of the season, once they had the top seed clinched.) They posted the NBA’s best record (64-18) and net rating (+11.1). Quite a title defense.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was sensational all season. He is the favorite to win a second consecutive MVP award, and therefore has a case for the Best Player Alive — along with Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama, his chief rivals in the West.

Everything to know for the NBA playoffs: Predictions, series previews, X-factors

Williams, who was limited to only 33 games, spent the season trying to round himself into All-NBA form and never quite got there. But Chet Holmgren, the NBA’s second-best defender (behind Wembanyama) and a heck of an offensive talent, too, stepped forward in Williams’ absence, and he has a chance to make an All-NBA roster instead.

Point is: There’s a lot of talent up top for OKC, and it does not end there. Alex Caruso, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace remain a pack of defensive wolves. Isaiah Hartenstein plugs every other hole in a roster. The Thunder have talent that may not even crack a playoff rotation, including Jared McCain, who they added at the deadline just for fun.

What we know about the Suns

The Suns weren’t supposed to be good. At all. In fact, they were bad last season. Real bad. Then, they traded Kevin Durant for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and draft picks, and waived-and-stretched Bradley Beal, waving the white flag on a failed era.

Devin Booker remained. And he is still awesome. He made another All-Star team, averaging a 26-4-6 on 46/33/87 shooting splits. But the Suns weren’t supposed to have enough around him. They were shallow last season, and they shed their stars.

But Brooks brought with him a winning attitude from his days on the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets. He was the human embodiment of everything first-year head coach Jordan Ott demanded — all-out effort. And he added attitude.

The Suns followed suit. They got more than they bargained for from Collin Gillespie, Royce O’Neale, Jordan Goodwin, Oso Ighodaro and on down the line. Green missed 50 games. Brooks missed 26. And Booker missed 18. And still the Suns kept surviving.

They start with a top-10 defense, all based on effort, and figure out the offense, mostly relying on Booker, Green and Brooks to create. Gillespie does his share, too. They got contributions from everyone, including Mark Williams and Grayson Allen. Phoenix, all season long, was a collective, a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Head-to-head

The Thunder won their regular-season series with the Suns, 3-2.

Throw out the regular-season finale, a 135-103 Phoenix victory, since both teams emptied their benches in a meaningless game. The Suns handed OKC another defeat, 108-105, in early January, when Booker made a last-second game-winner.

Booker missed two games against the Thunder, both blowout losses. Green didn’t play a second against OKC this season. Don’t glean too much from their five games.

But! The lineup of SGA, Williams, Dort, Wallace and Holmgren — one of many the Thunder will weaponize — beat the Suns by 33 points in 35 minutes. No lineup from any team finished better than +20 in any amount of minutes against OKC this season.

Matchup to watch

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Dillon Brooks

SGA is the NBA’s MVP. Brooks thinks he is the NBA’s MVP. This should be fun.

Do I expect Brooks to slow Gilgeous-Alexander? Maybe a little. If anyone knows SGA’s game, it is his fellow Canadian national team star. Brooks did defend SGA for 50 possessions this season, according to the NBA’s tracking data, “holding” the MVP to 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and forcing three turnovers against his six assists.

Then again, the Thunder scored 142.3 points per 100 possessions when Brooks was matched up with Gilgeous-Alexander, which doesn’t bode well for the Suns’ chances.
SGA averaged 30 points on 51/50/86 shooting splits in three games against the Suns, and OKC outscored Phoenix by 19.9 points per 100 possessions in his minutes.

But do I expect Brooks to annoy the hell out of Gilgeous-Alexander? Absolutely. And that’s what makes this matchup the one to watch. Phoenix won’t win many matchups in this series, and they sure as heck won’t win this one, but Brooks competes like hell. He’ll make SGA work for everything he gets, and there are few things cooler to watch.

Key question

Can Jalen Williams find his shooting stroke?

Williams was OKC’s second-best player on its championship run. He made the All-NBA third team and All-Defensive second team last season. He is one of 30 players ever to score 40 points in an NBA Finals game and the fifth-youngest to ever do it.

He can pretty much do it all, scoring from all three levels, passing with aplomb, defending every position, rebounding, screening, whatever the game calls for, really.

He was not that player this season. He missed the first 19 games of the year to offseason wrist surgery. He played 24 straight games, before missing 26 of his next 28 games to a hamstring injury. He returned again for seven of OKC’s final 11 games.

Through it all, Williams’ scoring average dipped from 21.6 points per game (on 48/37/79 shooting splits) to 17.1 points per game (on 48/30/84 shooting splits). He is driving just as often as he always did. His assists per game are up to a career-high 5.5. And he’s still grabbing about 5 rebounds per game. His defense isn’t far off.

It’s his jump shot that has suffered. He is shooting 37.3% from the midrange and 29.7% on above-the-break 3s, down from 45.9% and 36.4% last season. You wonder if the wrist is an issue, if the hamstring makes things worse. Defenses will wonder the same and defend Williams accordingly. Ripple effects can be felt on OKC’s offense.

Suddenly, the Thunder are no longer a top-three offense but the seventh-rated one. That may not make a difference against an eighth seed. But against stiff competition they’re going to need Williams, or at least the threat of an All-NBA release valve — someone who can make the defense pay when it bends toward Gilgeous-Alexander.

Prediction: Thunder in five

All of the analytics suggest Oklahoma City is an overwhelming favorite, as do the oddsmakers. I can’t tell you how many players on the Thunder would start for the Suns, but it’s a lot. Still, I respect Phoenix’s hustle too much not to give them a game.

The Kansas City Royals enter Saturday’s game against the New York Yankees on a five-game losing streak. The lost the series’ opener 4-2 on Friday after Ryan McMahon hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Starting pitchers are Noah Cameron for Kansas City and Will Warren for New York.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees

• Date: Saturday, April 18

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET / 10:35 a.m. PT

• Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

• TV Channels: YES, Royals.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Kansas City Royals: 7-13 (No. 5 in AL Central)

• New York Yankees: 11-9 (No. 2 in AL East)

Odds

• Spread: New York Yankees -1.5

• Moneyline: New York Yankees -170 (60.2%) / Kansas City Royals +140 (39.8%)

• Over/Under: 8.0

Starting pitchers

Kansas City Royals: Noah Cameron (1-0, ERA: 3.94, K: 14, WHIP: 1.25)
New York Yankees: Will Warren (1-0, ERA: 2.45, K: 20, WHIP: 1.25)

Weather: 65°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 47,309 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole officially began his rehab assignment Friday, making his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in early 2025.

Suiting up for the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, Cole threw 4 1/3 innings with 3 hits allowed, 3 earned runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts on 44 pitches. While pitch-by-pitch data isn’t available online, he reportedly hit 96 mph in the first inning.

He was also throwing quite a curveball.

Cole’s trouble came in the second inning, when he walked a batter then allowed an RBI double to Dylan Campbell and a homer to Bryson Ware on back-to-back at-bats.

Per MLB.com, Cole has been moving smoothly through rehab this year, with two short starts in spring training. His side session on Wednesday went well enough the Yankees decided to start the rehab assignment clock, which dictates that a player must be added back to the MLB roster within 30 days of the start of his rehab assignment. Tommy John patients may also receive three 10-day extensions.

Cole is reportedly forecast for a return in June, though he seemed happy with where he was earlier this week:

“I have no complaints,” Cole said on Monday. “The stamina was good. The pitches are fine right now. They’re good. I’m a little nit-picky, but everything is good.”

Without Cole, the Yankees are off to an 11-9 start after a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday. When Cole is healthy, they will be expecting to have one of the best pitchers in baseball back in a rotation currently headlined by Max Fried and Cam Schlittler.

The 2026 NBA playoffs began with a play-in tournament on April 14. The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers have been eliminated so far, while the Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers have secured spots in the playoffs. The final elimination games, between the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference, and the Orlando Magic vs. Charlotte Hornets in the Eastern Conference, are set for Friday, April 17. The regular playoffs are set to begin April 18.

Every play-in game will stream exclusively on Prime Video. Here’s what you need to know so you won’t miss a single game of the 2026 NBA play-in tournament, including the complete schedule and where to stream, plus key dates for the rest of the playoffs.

How to watch the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament:

Dates: April 14 – 17, 2026

TV channel: n/a

Streaming: Prime Video

When is the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament?

The NBA playoffs unofficially begin with the play-in tournament from April 14-17. The playoffs then officially get under way on April 18. 

How to watch the Play-In Tournament:

All games of this year’s play-in tournament will be broadcast live on Prime Video from April 14-17, with winners advancing to the first round of the NBA Playoffs starting Saturday, April 18.

What teams are in the 2026 NBA Play-In Tournament?

The play-in tournament features the teams ranked 7th through 10th in each conference. In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat played Charlotte Hornets and the Orlando Magic faced the Philadelphia 76ers. In the Western Conference, The Portland Trail Blazers played the Phoenix Suns while the Golden State Warriors played the L.A. Clippers. 

2026 NBA Play-In Tournament Schedule

All times Eastern.

• April 17, 7:30 p.m.: East Final Eliminator Game, Orlando Magic vs. Charlotte Hornets (Prime Video)

• April 17, 10 p.m.: West Final Eliminator Game, Phoenix Suns vs. Golden State Warriors (Prime Video)

NBA Playoff schedule:

All times Eastern.

• April 14-17: NBA Play-In Tournament

• April 18: NBA Playoffs begin

• May 4: Conference Semifinals begin (can move up to May 2 or 3)

• May 19: Eastern Conference Finals begin on ESPN/ABC (can move up to May 17)

• May 20: Western Conference Finals begin on NBC/Peacock (can move up to May 18)

• June 3: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 1 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET

• June 5: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 2 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET

• June 8: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 3 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET

• June 10: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 4 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET

• June 13: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 5 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET (if necessary)

• June 16: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 6 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET (if necessary)

• June 19: NBA Finals 2026 – Game 7 on ABC, 8:30 p.m. ET (if necessary)

The San Diego Padres’ sale process is close to being finalized, with private-equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, purchasing the team for $3.9 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The valuation would be about $1.5 billion more than what Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020 and the highest ever for an MLB franchise. Any sale agreement would require approval from 75% of MLB owners.

Ownership groups led by Golden State Warriors and Valkyries principal owner Joe Lacob, Detroit Pistons and Platinum Equities owner Tom Gores, and AS Roma, AS Cannes and Everton FC owner Dan Friedkin, along with Feliciano and Jones, were reportedly among the bidders under consideration.

The Seidler family, which currently owns the Padres, has been exploring a potential sale since November. Former chairman and majority stakeholder Peter Seidler died in November 2023 at the age of 63 after a long illness. John Seidler, Peter’s brother, currently controls the family trust, and thus the Padres, after being approved by MLB owners a year ago.

Interest in the Padres comes amid a strong run for the franchise. The team has made the playoffs in four of the past six seasons, including reaching the National League Championship Series in 2022, when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Padres are 13-6 this season, entering play Friday.

For quite a long time (or maybe it’s just felt incredibly long to me), it’s felt like Roma’s season was collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. Como, an opportunistic and annoyingly resilient side backed by the richest owners in Italy, seemed poised to turn Roma’s recent stumbles into something more permanent. And yet, the door to salvation has cracked back open just a smidge. Como has faltered, capped by a loss to Sassuolo, and we now return to our regularly scheduled programming: table-watching.

The thing about the final gasps of a season is that momentum doesn’t build in this setting. Instead, it feels like there’s just a limited amount of hope allotted, and when one side loses that hope, another side inevitably gains it. With that in mind, Roma gaining a touch of a reprieve doesn’t feel earned, but inherited; still, the opportunity is real. With Roma sitting just ahead of Atalanta and still within reach of the top four, as Juventus occupy that tenuous final Champions League place, the math has simplified. Win, and the conversation changes. Lose, and the death spiral becomes just a bit more permanent. The margins are that thin and the stakes are that blunt.

If Roma is, in any meaningful sense, the team it once hinted at being earlier this season, then this is where that Real Roma needs to stand up (to paraphrase one Marshall Mathers). They will only be able to do this through execution. Whatever belief once surrounded this side has eroded, and it’s been replaced by a more familiar uncertainty and doom about the club’s long-term potential. The table offers them one last invitation to change the script: step into the fight with Juventus, or drift out of it. Will they lose themselves in the music the moment they want it? Will they never let it go?

What to Watch For

Can We Get Wesley and Pisilli Back?

If Roma wants to get a win out of this one, they’re going to need two of the only players in the squad who consistently make things happen without needing the entire system to click first. Wesley is still dealing with a hamstring issue and looks unlikely to be risked, while Niccolò Pisilli is stuck in that late-test limbo with an ankle problem. Even if one of them makes the bench, it’s hard to see either being close to 100 percent. That’s a problem, because Roma don’t exactly have redundancy in those roles. Wesley gives you directness that no one else in this side really offers right now, while Pisilli’s value is different but just as important. He speeds things up. He plays forward. He turns stagnant possession into something that at least resembles intent, which has been in short supply since the long-term injuries to Matias Soulé and Paulo Dybala neutered Roma’s creative power.

Against an Atalanta side that will be out for blood and a chance to get into Europe themselves, those skills are not optional. You’re not going to slowly work your way through them over 90 minutes. You need players who can break structure, who can create something out of nothing when the game starts to tilt. Without Wesley and Pisilli, Roma can still compete. But they start to look a lot more like a team hoping the match comes to them, instead of one capable of taking it.

Can Gasperini End the Drama with A Win Against His Prior Employer?

The most annoying part of the past few weeks of Roman drama is that this didn’t have to be a storyline. Not like this.

Instead, Roma head into one of the biggest matches of their season with the focus split between the pitch and a very public fracture between Gian Piero Gasperini and Claudio Ranieri. What started as a disagreement over squad decisions and messaging has spilled out into the open, culminating in Gasperini visibly emotional in his pre-match press conference after allegedly being caught off guard by Ranieri’s comments. That’s where things stand now: there’s tension, there’s noise, and we now have a match that suddenly feels like it’s carrying more than just three points.

Ignore the drama, because reality is simpler than that. This spat between Ranieri and Gasperini, two icons of Italian football, shouldn’t be resolved in press conferences or clarified through intermediaries. Roma didn’t bring Gasperini in to navigate internal power struggles. They brought him in because of what he did at Atalanta: nine years of turning a club without traditional resources into one of the most consistent sides in Italy and a regular presence in the Champions League. He built something there out of parts most managers wouldn’t have known how to use. That’s the résumé with Atalanta, and that’s the project with Roma.

This is the moment where that résumé has to translate. Not eventually, not over the course of a long rebuild—now. Because whatever tension exists, whatever frustration is bubbling underneath the surface, it all looks very different if Roma walk off the pitch tomorrow with three points. Win, and the noise quiets for the moment. Win, and the idea behind the hire starts to feel real again. Lose, and everything just gets louder. Nobody wants that. Nobody needs that. Certainly not me, because I want to get back to podcasting happy.

The Brooklyn Nets have 52 jersey numbers worn by over 600 different players over the course of their history since the franchise was founded in 1967 as a charter member of the American Basketball Association (ABA), when the team was known as the “New Jersey Americans”.

Since then, that league has been absorbed by the NBA, with the team that would later become the New York Nets and New Jersey Nets before settling on the name by which they are known today, bringing their rich player and jersey history with them to the league of today.

To commemorate the players who played for the Nets over the decades wearing those 52 different jersey numbers, Nets Wire is covering the entire history of the franchise’s jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team.

And for today’s article, we will continue with the second of eight people to wear the No. 55 jersey, big man alum Jayson Williams. After ending his college career at St. John’s, Williams was picked up with the 21st overall selection of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns.

The Ritter, South Carolina native played the first two seasons of his pro career with the Philadelphia 76ers instead after being dealt there before the start of his rookie campaign. That ended when he was dealt to the (then) New Jersey (now, Brooklyn) Nets in 1992 for the final seven seasons of his NBA career.

During his time suiting up for the Nets, Williams wore only jersey No. 55 and put up 8.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets jersey history No. 55 – Jayson Williams (1992-99)

ANAHEIM — It’s a day of mourning in the Los Angeles Angels organization.

On Friday morning, the Angels announced that Garret Anderson had passed away.

Anderson was the embodiment of what it meant to not only be a professional athlete, but a great person, spending 15 of his 17-year career with the Angels and being a role model on and off the field.

Anderson was a three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner, a key member of the Angels winning their first World Series in 2002, and is a member of the club’s Hall of Fame.

There is a good reason as to why Anderson is in the Angels Hall of Fame, leading the club in multiple categories as an all-time hitting leader for RBIs (1,292), doubles (489), hits (2,368), and total bases (3,743).

When he finished his career, he transitioned into a broadcasting role back with the club he grew up with as a player.

Anderson was quick to find himself partnered with someone he spent most of his playing career with, playing on the opposite side of the outfield, in Tim Salmon.

Salmon was choked up this afternoon when speaking about Anderson and said the two had so many similar life experiences throughout their playing careers.

“We had very similar upbringings,” Salmon said. “Single moms, stoic grandmothers that helped raise us. We both married our college and high school sweethearts. Our wives were pregnant at the same time, our kids grew up together.”

Both Salmon and Anderson were born in the Los Angeles metropolitan area as Salmon was born in Long Beach and later moved to Phoenix Arizona. Anderson stayed in Los Angeles during his youth and played baseball at John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills.

The two became members of the Angels organization together in 1990 when Anderson was selected by the Angels in the fourth round.

Salmon recalled the first time he met Anderson was in spring training, in a brand-new Mustang.

“I was at Gene Autry Park, and I remember being in the outfield, … I just remember seeing this kid drive in, in this really nice Mustang. He must’ve spent his entire signing bonus on it,” Salmon said jokingly about his former teammate. “Beautiful Mustang, and here comes this tall, lanky kid. Looks like he was more of a basketball player at the time. He was super skinny, and I was like, ‘Oh, what kind of attitude are we gonna have here?’ And it was the complete opposite.”

Anderson did, in fact, turn out to be the complete opposite of what Salmon initially thought. He was one of the quieter players; he did not say much, and always went about his business the right way.

Salmon recalled Anderson being mild-mannered, quiet, and infectious. 

“When he talked, you were like ‘Oh well, he’s talking,” Salmon said. “He became a favorite of his teammates.”

While Anderson was important to the Angels organization during his playing career, he was just as important during his post-playing career.

Three-time American League MVP Mike Trout said he found out the news of Anderson’s passing this morning and called it devastating.

Trout recalled always seeing Anderson with a smile on his face.

“Seeing highlights, and watching him. He holds every record here for such a long time. He meant a lot to this Angels organization,” Trout said.

Trout said this morning he spoke with Torii Hunter and Jered Weaver, who were both former teammates of Anderson’s during the latter part of his career.

Weaver and Hunter were both in the primes of their career when Trout came up to the Angels as a rookie in 2011.

Whenever Anderson was brought up in conversation with Trout, he always recalled the moment, hearing nothing but great things about who he was as a player and a person outside of baseball.

Despite being known as a quiet individual, Trout said he would approach Anderson at the ballpark and strike up a conversation with him.

“It was one of the things going up to him, starting a conversation,” Trout said. “He would let us use his boat down by his house in the dock. He was an awesome dude.”

Angels outfielder Jo Adell said the team was left speechless when they found out about Anderson’s death.

When Adell did come across Anderson and had the chance to speak with him, he made the most of it as he considered him special.

“When you’ve won a World Series, it’s something everybody’s taking notes of,” Adell said. “What you did, and how you were able to do it. You know, for him and the longevity of his career, how he was able to continue to come out every day and play a brand of baseball that was at the highest level and to be that consistent.”

“I remember seeing him for the first time. You’re definitely picking that brain of somebody who could do that.”

During the Angels’ 2002 World Series run, manager Kurt Suzuki was a freshman baseball player, attending Cal-State Fullerton.

One of Anderson’s most iconic moments in his career happened in Game 7 of that World Series.

With a tie score at 1 and the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the third, the Angels were looking to get the lead.

Anderson was known during his career for making good contact on the ball, hitting doubles, and getting RBIs.

He did just that, by clearing the bases on a ball hit towards right field to give the Angels a 4-1 lead over the San Francisco Giants.

Suzuki remembered watching Anderson being a key part of bringing the first World Series trophy to Anaheim.

“I remember those thundersticks they had and remember watching those games on TV,” Suzuki said. “(Anderson) was a big part of this organization; he was a big part of that World Series team.”

The Houston Rockets have had players donning a total of 52 different jersey numbers (and have one not part of any numerical series for Houston assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson) since their founding at the start of the 1967-68 season, worn by just under 500 players in the course of Rockets history.

To honor all of the players who wore those numbers over the decades, Rockets Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who wore them since the founding of the team all those years ago right up to the present day.

With seven of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Rockets of all time to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.

And for today’s article, we will continue with the fifth of 16 who wore the No. 12, guard alum Matt Maloney. After ending his college career at Penn, Maloney went unselected in the 1995 NBA Draft, playing in other leagues until he signed with the Houston Rockets in 1996.

The Silver Spring, Maryland native played the first three seasons of his pro career with Houston, coming to an end when he was cut in 1999.

During his time suiting up for the Rockets, Maloney wore only jersey No. 12 and put up 8.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game.

All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets jersey history No. 12 – Matt Maloney (1996-99)