Jae’Sean Tate has become a valuable member of the Rockets rotation as a rookie. The 25-year-old shares his first brush against LeBron James.
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The Rockets faced off against the Lakers twice in quick succession about a month back. Those were to be the 2 final games of the James Harden era for the team. Harden would go on to demand a trade publicly following their second straight blowout loss after that.
The Rockets have rallied since the trade to go above .500, and are currently 10th in the Conference. They look favorably placed to make a surge through the ratings. If they’re able to field their full complement of players for the final 2 months of the season, one could conceivably see them snagging homecourt advantage.
Jae’Sean Tate narrates the story of why LeBron James iso’ed on him for 5 straight possessions
The 25-year-old rookie has received some rave reviews for his defense. He’s also gotten a neat and tidy highlight for his fledgling career: a dream shake before a one-handed floater finish over the best player on the planet. James marked him out for special treatment after that.
“People go back, they can see I score and then literally the next five possessions, he brought me up into the switch to get me in the ISO. Literally the next four or five possessions. Like he was calling me up to get the pick-and-roll switch because he knew we switched one through five.”
“But that just tells you like how smart that dude is. And like the mental aspect, his knowledge of the game and knowing how to get things. He is who he is and it was cool to play against them, but I didn’t even realize it until I went back and watched it. He probably don’t even remember, that’s crazy.”
As things turned out, LeBron James was not on the floor for too long. The Rockets’ blowout meant that both James and Davis could rest for significant stretches on the bench.
