Houston Rockets News: Griffin gone, Jersey juxtaposition

We hope that AJ Griffin is ok.

Seriously. Houston Rockets fans may be frustrated with this young man. That’s understandable. When the Rockets traded a second-round pick for Griffin earlier in the summer, there was excitement about what he could bring to the table.

Nobody thought he’d retire before the season got underway. Yet, that’s exactly what’s happened. It’s official:

The Rockets have bought out AJ Griffin’s contract.

Rockets trade acquisition makes swift departure

There isn’t much to say here. We don't have many words to dedicate to AJ Griffin. That’s because Griffin didn’t spend much time with the Rockets.

His Summer League performance left much to be desired. Moreover, Griffin’s entire sophomore year with the Hawks was a disappointment. After a strong rookie campaign, Griffin somehow lost his footing in the league. Perhaps that’s got something to do with why he’s leaving the game so early.

It’s a sad story. The sophomore slump is renowned for a reason. It’s entirely possible that Griffin could have bounced back and gone on to enjoy a long, fruitful NBA career. Now, he'll never find out.

Either way, some things are more important than basketball. We hope that Griffin finds whatever he’s looking for in life, but now we know he won’t find it in a Rockets uniform.

Speaking of Rockets uniforms…

Rockets uniforms draw mixed reviews

We didn’t love the Rockets’ City Edition uniforms. A lot of fans didn’t love them either. We thought it was safe to assume that they were generally unpopular.

As the old adage goes, we can’t speak for everyone. The Rockets’ design is starting to get some love around the league. As it turns out, our opinion only holds so much influence.

Mike D. Sykes II of USA Today certainly loved them. He ranked them as the fifth-best jersey Nike produced this year.

“There’s something about these. They’re simple — yes. There’s not much to them. But you don’t need to do much if you’ve got a great logo and that H-Town logo has to be one of the best logos we’ve seen from the league’s City uniform in years.”

Fair enough!

That green trim is still throwing us off. It may also be that we loved last year’s city design so much that we wanted the Rockets to lean into it. For whatever reason, these uniforms are not captivating us.

Ultimately, there’s no accounting for taste. This is a completely subjective issue. We’re glad Sykes II likes these jerseys:

Even if he’s completely, definitely wrong.