THE DAY AFTER the Houston Rockets` nine-game winning streak was snapped by the visiting Denver Nuggets in late March, Amen Thompson stood before his teammates at the team`s expansive new training facility. It was his turn for the team-building exercise: sharing his life story in five minutes.
“Everybody goes over the time,” Thompson shared.
He found it difficult to stay within the limit.
Sharing essentially the same intertwined story with his attentive teammates, the reserved Thompson recounted growing up in the Oakland area of California with his fiercely competitive identical twin brother, Ausar Thompson, born just a minute later. He spoke of a supportive family instrumental in bringing to life dreams they had written down on a family vision board when they were just nine years old.
“That`s characteristic of them if you know their background and history,” Houston coach Ime Udoka told ESPN. “So, we learned a bit more about Amen`s background than we previously knew. When you have a twin brother in the position they are, you understand they grew up challenging each other constantly. Their father [Troy Thompson] pushed them hard and clearly shaped them into who they are today. Their competitive nature was always evident.”
Amen and Ausar, now 22, are the first twins in NBA history to be drafted within the top five picks (Amen went fourth to Houston, Ausar fifth to the Detroit Pistons). They are poised to make their playoff debuts in their second seasons as key players for franchises looking to build success.
Amen admits he “wasn`t expecting it,” while Ausar “always believed since last year” that the twins would genuinely contend for a championship in 2025.
“It`s really cool,” Ausar stated. “Last year, Amen would talk about us. They won 41 games. We won 14. He joked, `Flip the number, and that`s your win total.` But I told him, it doesn`t matter. Neither of us made the playoffs. Now he can`t say that. We both made the playoffs in the same year. All he can say is they have a better record. I guarantee next year it won`t be the case.”
Amen`s Rockets are currently trailing 0-1 against the Golden State Warriors and hope to tie the series soon. Meanwhile, Ausar`s Pistons ended the NBA`s longest postseason losing streak (15 games) with a win over the New York Knicks and aim to take a 2-1 lead as their series moves to Detroit.
For now, Amen is focused on the present. He`s “not doubting [Ausar`s predictions] anymore” but envisions a bigger picture for both the Rockets and the Pistons in the 2025 playoffs.
“I want to see him in the Finals,” Amen told ESPN. “That would be amazing. But only one of us will win. And I know who that`s going to be.”
The brothers clearly hold differing views.
“Man, we would beat them,” Ausar countered. “This year, when we played with all our players healthy, we defeated them.”
ON THE NIGHT the Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 143-105 to become the second team in the Western Conference to secure a playoff spot, Amen leaned back at his locker, recalling his family`s vision board.
Their mother, Maya Wilson, didn`t allow them to play football. So, by age seven, their father, Troy, was leading Amen and Ausar through basketball drills he had created years prior for their older brother, Troy Jr., who played college ball and whom the twins view as “the blueprint” for their own success.
This daily dedication ignited a dream for the twins, who share the middle name XLNC (pronounced `excellency`).
“They are special individuals,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff told ESPN about the Thompson family. “You can see they instilled in them the idea that the team was more important than any single person, that there was more to life than just being a talented basketball player, and the significance of taking care of oneself mentally, physically, and spiritually.”
Pasted with thumbtacks onto a wall, written in handwriting impressive for nine-year-olds, the Thompson family vision board was titled “Amen & Ausar`s 6`9` Dreams” in graffiti style above a drawing of a black-and-white Nike Air Foamposite One sneaker. Below, the goals were listed, each marked with a star:
- Become The Greatest NBA Player of All-Time
- Become a Multi-Billionaire
- Get a shoe company
- Become 6 ft. 9 inch[es]
“Yeah, my dad always believed in writing down your aspirations,” Amen explained. “It`s like writing down affirmations. I don`t fully remember everything I wrote. But it was about documenting it to have a guide and outline the steps needed to achieve those goals.”
Beneath the goals, the twins wrote a 10-step daily routine, signed in cursive.
“Some of the items on that list were pretty intense,” Amen said. “We used to follow it, though. But some of that stuff was hard to do every single day.”
The first step was “run 2 miles dribbling left-handed,” followed by “200 pushups, 200 sit-ups, 50 pull-ups, 500 calf raises, squat while watching TV.” The final two steps were “eat vitamins every day, healthy foods, and milk,” ending with No. 10: “hustle as hard as possible always.”
Troy wanted the boys to compete with the same intense drive and effort as Russell Westbrook. They took this to heart. Eventually, friendly pickup games escalated into arguments and even fights. It reached a point where Troy decided his twins should no longer play one-on-one against each other.
“Whoever lost would just start fighting and stuff,” Amen recalled. Ausar insists “it was always Amen who initiated it,” which Amen doesn`t dispute.
“He would get so angry,” Ausar said. “We`d get home, and he`d still be upset. Our dad would say, `Alright, we`re going on a spiritual walk.` It would just be him and my dad walking perhaps four miles. It`s funny now.”
In one particular instance, Amen remembers a dispute he started resulting in a 14-mile hike.
“I would be furious, especially if Ausar didn`t have to go and it was just me on the hike,” Amen commented.
Did Amen`s punishments make Ausar feel remorseful?
“Absolutely not,” Ausar stated. “He was genuinely trying to hurt me. I would try to go home, and he wouldn`t let us leave until he won. So, it was like, `Oh, you don`t want to go home? Go take that spiritual walk up the hills.`”
Their competitiveness extended to Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they transferred before starting eighth grade after leaving California. Known for its strong academics, Pine Crest allowed Amen and Ausar to play varsity basketball as eighth graders.
By the end of their junior year, they had dominated four years on the varsity team, leading Pine Crest to a state championship and earning Co-Player of the Year honors for their classes. The opportunity to join Overtime Elite (OTE), a new professional basketball league in Atlanta offering an alternative route to the NBA, arose during the AAU season.
They chose to forgo their senior year at Pine Crest to commit to OTE. The league provided 24/7 gym access, NBA-level trainers and coaches, high-level competition, and a minimum salary of $100,000.
Amen noted that he saw immediate improvements in his game at OTE.
“But I still feel like during the predraft process, because we were in OTE, people doubted if we`d be ready for the league,” Amen told ESPN. “They claimed we were only playing against 15- and 16-year-olds, just creating a false narrative. We played up in competition our entire lives. And if I were avoiding challenges, I could only do so for so long. We`ve always wanted to be the best. You can`t achieve that by running away.”
The 6-foot-7 twins, with wingspans close to seven feet, played two seasons in OTE before being drafted fourth and fifth by Houston and Detroit in the 2023 NBA draft.
“Everyone talks about having tough, competitive players on their teams,” Udoka remarked. “Some are like pit bulls, others like poodles. We aim for the pit bulls. He is exactly what we desire, require, seek, and more. We appreciate players with his height, athleticism, and adaptability. He fits perfectly. Everything he contributes is why we were thrilled to draft him at that spot. He was the player we really wanted. He embodies everything. He fits the profile of the modern NBA player and aligns with what we are trying to build here.”
Bickerstaff felt similarly about the type of player he sought for Detroit.
“You look for versatile guys who can influence the game on both ends of the court, tough, competitive, fierce individuals willing to do whatever it takes and make sacrifices,” he told ESPN. “Ausar possesses all those qualities. He is exactly the player you are searching for.”
THE THOMPSON TWINS last met in Miami in March, when the Heat hosted the Pistons and Rockets in consecutive games, both resulting in victories for the visiting teams. Possessing adaptable two-way skills and explosive athleticism, the Thompsons significantly influenced the outcome of both games, often tasked with defending Tyler Herro.
Amen`s performance was particularly striking. Miami had beaten Houston in a December game marred by six ejections, including Thompson, Herro, and Udoka in the final minute. Amen had also been recovering from an ankle injury, missing six games before that matchup.
Primarily guarding Herro, Amen recorded seven steals and a block, contributing to Houston scoring 24 points off Miami`s 21 turnovers. Herro had performed better two nights earlier against the Pistons, but both of Ausar`s steals in that game came while defending him.
Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone described game clips of the Thompson brothers from this season as “incredible.”
“You`re really seeing both of those guys mature this year, establishing their reputations,” Malone commented. “Their athleticism, their capacity to guard players from 1 to 5, their strength, their speed—it`s all impressive.”
Amen might be slightly ahead in his development compared to Ausar, partly because the latter missed the last 19 games of his rookie season and the first 18 games of his 2024-25 campaign due to a blood clot issue. Ausar didn`t debut this season until November 25.
“You can look at the numbers directly,” Bickerstaff told ESPN. “When he returned and played significant minutes, our game tempo increased because he would grab rebounds, run the floor, push the ball, and attack. He`s a very effective passer and offensive rebounder. Defensively, he`s a persistent threat, seemingly everywhere on the court. He`s improved significantly. But much of that is simply due to him being healthy enough to play and accumulating games.”
Udoka observes similar progress in Amen, who initially joined the Rockets as primarily a point guard. When Alperen Sengun was injured last season, Amen stepped into the power forward role, refining his skills as a screener and roller. Amen also spent considerable time in the dunker spot and shifted to point guard for extended periods this season when Fred VanVleet was sidelined by injury.
“So, he absorbed all of that and added it to his repertoire,” Udoka explained. “He`s played nearly every position, and I believe those experiences with different roles he hadn`t previously filled have truly propelled his development. He was a point guard who knew only one style of play: transition, passing, driving to the basket. Now, his ability to roll to the basket, play in the dunker spot, and execute various actions has broadened his game.”
From December 23 to the end of the regular season, Amen and Ausar were the only two players in the NBA to accumulate over 100 offensive rebounds and more than 125 combined steals and blocks. While Amen holds a slight advantage in production per game, their numbers are quite similar on a per-36-minutes basis.
According to GeniusIQ, an AI-driven sports analytics platform, Amen and Ausar rank among the top five in average jump height (2.38 feet and 2.28 feet, respectively) when attempting layups or dunks this season. Defensively, Ausar ranks fifth in opponent field goal percentage allowed (38.8%) as the contesting defender among players who defended at least 400 shots, according to GeniusIQ. Amen ranks sixth but would be first if the minimum threshold for contested shots was raised to 700.
Ausar concluded the regular season ranked third in defensive estimated plus-minus, behind Alex Caruso and Kris Dunn, while Amen ranked fifth, trailing Victor Wembanyama.
“I want to be even more assertive on-ball, attack more, and explore my offensive capabilities while attacking,” Ausar shared. “The main focus is simply expanding on what I`m already good at, like getting to the rim, finishing, or getting into that mid-range area.”
Amen is also one of only two players this season, alongside Jaren Jackson Jr., to record at least 80 steals and 80 blocks. He`s the first Rocket since Hakeem Olajuwon (1998-99) to achieve this.
Despite the considerable talent and basketball intelligence they`ve demonstrated in their initial two NBA seasons, the Thompson twins recognize the necessity of improving their shooting to truly flourish in the league. Until then, they will continue to leverage the physical gifts that brought them to the NBA, prioritizing impacting games in any way possible.
“It`s encouraging to see a young player lean into their strengths,” said Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy. “The draft process can be challenging for young players as they are scrutinized and told about their weaknesses. Sometimes, their focus shifts to trying to prove everyone wrong. A crucial part of establishing oneself as a young NBA player is first, not revealing your weaknesses unnecessarily, and second, capitalizing on your current strengths to help the team win while developing other aspects of your game.”
Before their respective playoff games, the twins exchange a simple text message: “Go kill.”
“Honestly, I just want to see him perform well,” Ausar admitted. “I used to get nervous watching his games. But I don`t anymore. He plays nearly 40 minutes a night. So, I just watch it as entertainment now. I fully expect him to be amazing.”
If one is playing, the other is watching, instinctively understanding the emotions of each moment on the court. It`s not twin telepathy, but rather a deep familiarity.
“When I watch, I can tell what he`s feeling just by his expression,” Amen explained. “It`s not a sixth sense or anything supernatural. He would say the same thing. Sometimes, we`ll send each other a TikTok at the exact same time, and it`s the identical one. So, there are things like that. But a sixth sense? Nah, you`ve just been around the person your whole life, you know? Our stories are basically the exact same story.”
