3 reasons why Rockets’ Rafael Stone isn’t your typical rookie GM

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3. Stone’s long-time involvement in key player decisions for Rockets

Stone, who played point guard at Williams College, a Division III school, has always had a basketball passion. His father, Rafael Stone Sr., was a standout point guard for the University of Washington, where he played against all-time greats, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Paul Westphal.

So you can say basketball runs in Stone’s blood.

This is no more evident in his decision to leave a prestigious law firm to join the Houston Rockets’ general counsel in 2005. Morey would join the Rockets less than two years later and consult with Stone on more than just legal issues.

Stone has been involved in major basketball decisions for almost Morey’s entire tenure as General Manager of the Houston Rockets.

Stone was involved in the Harden trade, as he was locked in the war room with Morey for three days before constructing the deal that would eventually bring the former MVP to Houston. This was just the beginning of Stone’s involvement with player transactions, as he was also a big part of the Chris Paul trade and all the transactions that had to be made in order to complete that trade.

Recently, Stone was heavily involved in the Robert Covington trade and handled much of the negotiations, as he helped to bring in Ben McLemore and was vital in the trade for David Nwaba. Stone has been Morey’s right-hand man behind the scenes, handling more and more on the basketball side as the years went on.

Next: No. 2