Amen Thompson was once again involved in a heated scuffle during an NBA game. The last time it was against Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat, this time it was against Jose Alvarado and the New Orleans Pelicans. During the second quarter of the game that the Houston Rockets ultimately won 130-128, Thompson got locked up in a scuffle with Alvarado that nearly led to the Rockets forward swinging at the Pelicans guard to get him to let go of his jersey.
AMEN THOMPSON THROWING PUNCHES AT JOSE ALVARADO
OMG (h/t @Fullcourtpass) pic.twitter.com/r3mcvujO1J
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 15, 2025
Thompson was ultimately given the flagrant foul 1, and Alvarado was given a technical foul. Following the fight and the game, former NBA player Evan Turner took to social media to take a subtle dig at the Rockets’ depth and called out Amen Thompson for making a poor decision, explaining to him how it could ultimately cost him.
“Dear Amen, We know you are willing to fight and aren’t afraid. We want to see your next steps as a player. Your team needs you, y’all not loaded enough #pause to be sitting on the sideline with a 4 game suspension cause you wanted to fight a welterweight,” wrote Turner on X.
Kevin Durant, who is Thompson’s teammate on the Rockets, saw this criticism on social media and decided to call him out. The 37-year-old veteran stood up for his teammate.
“Oh great, more unsolicited advice,” wrote Durant on X, to which a fan responded, claiming that since Durant provided no leadership to the team, another veteran had to step in to give Thompson some advice.
“Why are you so bitter?” Durant responded as he called out the fan’s attempt to point fingers at the Rockets’ superstar for seemingly lacking leadership qualities. Turner saw Durant’s response and cleared the air on what he meant.
“Relax lol, the other route ain’t no fighting or nothing. I just said what I said, lol, there’s nothing deep behind it,” he said. “I don’t fight brother lol I knew exactly what u meant,” replied Durant.
Thompson finished the game with 21 points, five rebounds, and three assists while shooting 62.5% from the field. Durant ended up with 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one block while shooting 46.2% from the field on a relatively rough night for the superstar. The Rockets pushed their preseason winning run to three games, and they face the Hawks once again on Thursday night in their final preseason game. Can they finish the preseason undefeated?
The Rockets are set to face the defending champions Thunder, on the opening night of the regular season on Tuesday. If they manage to finish the preseason undefeated, then they could benefit from the momentum headed into Durant’s return to face his former team.
