It was a good season for the Rockets. Reviews continue with veteran center “Uncle” Jeff Green.
Despite a disappointing loss to the Golden State Warriors, the 2024-2025 Houston Rockets had an impressive season, finishing with 52 wins and securing the second seed in the Western Conference. With Rockets player reviews underway, let us continue looking at the bench and reviewing veteran Jeff Green’s season.
After Jeff Green helped lead Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to the NBA championship in 2023, he signed a two-year deal with the Houston Rockets.
While Jeff only saw playing time in 32 games this season, starting three, this was likely due to the emergence of the double big lineup featuring Alpern Sengun and Steven Adams, alongside Sengun’s offensive leap and Adams’ resurgence, Udoka essentially utilized Jeff Green as a player-coach veteran role.
When Jeff Green did see the court, he averaged 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists on 36.7 percent from three, 80.8 percent from the free throw line, and 36.7 percent on field goals.
Jeff Green’s impact extends outside the court. All the young players look up to and respect him, giving him his token Uncle Jeff nickname.
After Houston secured its 50th win of the season, securing its first playoff berth since 2019-2020, the Athletic caught up with Jeff to ask him a few questions about his role with the team.
“How has that transition been for you overall?”
“I love it. When I was young, I had those types of vets in Kurt Thomas, Kevin Garnett that instilled that confidence and knowledge in me. It was all to better my game and my career. It’s all a cycle. Now I’m at the point where it’s my turn to showcase that knowledge and help the young guys be professionals.”
With Jeff Green being extension eligible before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2026, I would not be surprised if the front office and Jeff agree to a short team-friendly option to let Jeff fully embrace the Player/Coach hybrid role while sticking around to Unc it up.