Chris Clemons joined a historic list of Houston Rockets with 16 points in his NBA debut during Sunday’s loss at Miami.
The undersized rookie guard is just the fifth player in Rockets franchise history to score at least 16 points in his first career game. The others are all in the Basketball Hall of Fame: Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, Elvin Hayes, and Calvin Murphy.
Murphy, like Clemons, stood at just 5-foot-9, but he was able to overcome those limitations in what became a Hall of Fame career.
Clemons’ 16 points came in just 22 minutes, and also on an efficient 50% shooting clip — including 4-of-9 on three-pointers. He also grabbed three rebounds and, despite his small size, had one of Houston’s five blocks on the night.
Clemons played in college at Campbell University, where he was the NCAA’s top scorer in the 2018-19 season at 30.1 points per game and is the third-highest scorer in D1 college basketball history. According to Basketball-Reference, Clemons’ offensive win shares (6.1) ranked second-best among all college players last season, while his player efficiency rating (33.0) was Top 10 in the country.
Yet, primarily due to his small frame, Clemons was not selected by any team in the 2019 NBA Draft. The Rockets picked Clemons up as an undrafted free agent, and he quickly turned heads by averaging a team-best 20.8 points per game in Summer League play in July, including 43.1% on three-pointers. Clemons then averaged 12.5 points in just 16.3 minutes in six preseason appearances with the Rockets.
Clemons is currently on a Two-Way contract with the Rockets, which limits the days he can spend at the NBA level. However, if his play warrants it, that Two-Way contract can later be converted to a standard deal allowing him to stay with the Rockets all season — just as Houston did with undrafted rookie Gary Clark a season ago.
Clemons will likely get another opportunity to prove his value to the Rockets in Monday’s game at Memphis, since starting point guard Russell Westbrook is expected to sit out for rest purposes.
