Maybe the jury is still out on Houston Rockets young gun Jalen Green. However, with the sensational shooting guard surpassing a franchise great in his latest performance, it might be time to put down the gavel. In the process of leading the Rockets to their 12th win in the last 13 games, Green scored 33 points during their lopsided victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Rockets’ Jalen Green Bests Yao Ming
At just 23 years old, Green now has more 30-point games (50) than Hall of Fame center Yao Ming (h/t StatMuse). He’s the eighth player in franchise history to have at least 50 30-point games (h/t StatMuse). The seven other Rockets players to achieve that feat: Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone, James Harden, Elvin Hayes, Rudy Tomjanovich, Steve Francis, and Calvin Murphy.
Out of those seven players, only Harden and Francis have not made the Hall of Fame. However, Harden is a lock to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. The 11-time All-Star won the NBA MVP award in 2018.
J Franchise?
At this point of his career, Green’s style and skillset bears the greatest resemblance Francis. Well, at least among the aforementioned players. At 6-foot-3, Francis was a high-flyer with a flair to his game.
JALEN GREEN (33 PTS) & HOUSTON WIN 12 OF THE LAST 13
49-26, 2nd in the West pic.twitter.com/ses4mbMCNF
— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2025
Ironically, “Stevie Franchise” as he would come to be called, was selected second overall in the 1999 NBA Draft after being named a Consensus All-American as a college freshman. In his nine-year career, he won Rookie of the Year and was selected as an All-Star three times.
Of course, Green was the second overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Unlike Francis, he didn’t go the college route though he was ranked as the No. 1 high school basketball recruit. He held offers from 20 programs and visited four (Oregon, Auburn, Memphis, and Kentucky). However, he opted to sign a contract with the G League Ignite, hoping to get ahead of the curve.
Respectfully, Green likely wants his career to go more like Harden’s than Francis’s. With that in mind, like Green, Harden didn’t win Rookie of the Year. Nonetheless, after making a name for himself with the Oklahoma City Thunder, his revolutionary offensive game allowed him to become a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate.
So far as the scoring distribution, Green’s team has more balance than the ones from the Harden era. Even so, they aren’t too picky about who’s doing the heavy lifting. If it turns out to be Green’s night, which happens quite often, they’ll roll with it. With that being said, Green is currently averaging 21.6 points per game.
In comparison, Harden was averaging 25.9 points per game in his fourth season.
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