On March 4, 2022, Beijing time, the former Rocket star Artest talked about the Rockets in a show, and many fans ignited the memories of youth that belonged to that year!
When Artest was asked on the show about the best team he's ever had, Artest said: "Kobe bryant is incredible, but there's Yao Ming's Rockets, I've never seen a team like that, that guy is different, it's too easy to win with him, I've never worked with a dominant player like him." Maddy was there, along with Battier, Mutombo and Alstom. ”
And Artest also said: "Yao Ming is very special, he is a star, very humble, every training will participate; Maddy's back and knees at that time were very bad, he was a little shorter than Durant, but he was taller than me, he had a good feel, he could attack with both his left and right hands, he had three points, breakthroughs, passes, if he wasn't injured, his career would be very good." ”
It can be said that that season was also the strongest form of rocket in the minds of many Chinese fans, and Artest only played one season for the Rockets in the 2008-2009 season. The Rockets' roster that season was Alstom, Barry, Cook, Dorsey, Battier, Brooks, Hayes, Hyde, Landry, Lowry, Maddy, Yao Ming, Mutombo, Scola, Weaver, James White and Artest! He went to get a 53-29 record, ranking fifth in the West, facing the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, they easily defeated the opponent 4:2, and then in the Western Conference semifinals, the Rockets faced the los Angeles Lakers, the champion of the year!
In that round of semifinals, Yao Ming staged the return of the king, and when he returned to the locker room with a knee injury, he moved a few times in the players' tunnel, immediately returned to the court, and shot a key mid-range jumper to help the Rockets take the lead. Then the Rockets and the Lakers have been able to stalemate, after the two sides fought a 2:2 draw, the Lakers won the Tianwang Mountain, the Rockets once again pulled the score into a 3:3 draw, the Rockets who did not have Yao Ming in the seventh battle did not resist the Attack of the Lakers, and the big score was lost to the opponent! It can be said that the Rockets that season are really the deepest memories of fans, and they are also the memories of the youth of many fans!