Ranking all 31 international players in Houston Rockets History - Space City Scoop

Houston Rockets Kostas Papanikolaou #16 and Donatas Motiejunas (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

With the Houston Rockets having signed players from 24 countries outside of the U.S., here’s a look at all 31 international players ranked from worst to best.

While the Houston Rockets used to be completely comprised of United States-born players, that changed drastically throughout the years. According to Basketball-Reference, there have been 384 total players that have officially signed with the Rockets since their inception in the 1967-68 season.

Of those 384, there have been 31 players that were born outside of the United States of America, including some of the best players in NBA history. There are 24 different countries represented in this list, with Argentina leading all others, birthing three players that became Houston Rockets at some point.

The cream of the crop should be fairly obvious, so I’ll be starting with the guys that even diehard fans might not have even heard of. These rankings will be largely based on each players’ effectiveness as a Rocket, however, their overall careers will sometimes be used as a tie-breaking factor.

I’ll begin with someone who played just 13 total minutes for H-Town:

William Howard (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

31. William Howard (France)

While he had a good basketball career in France, William Howard was never quite able to make it in the NBA. After playing in different French leagues from 2012-19, Howard was officially signed by the Utah Jazz after they agreed to buy out his contract with the French basketball club Limoges.

He never played a minute with Utah, instead spending time with their G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. Through 15 games with Salt Lake, Howard averaged 13.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, earning him a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets.

Given that he only played 13 total NBA minutes and never scored a bucket, it’s easy to see why Howard is last on this list. Howard currently plays for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, who just won the G-League championship in April 2019.

30. Tim Ohlbrecht (Germany)

While he bounced around German leagues and the D-League throughout his career, Tim Ohlbrecht never quite cracked his way into the NBA. Well, technically he did — briefly. Ohlbrecht played 12 total NBA minutes, all for the Houston Rockets in the 2012-13 season. In those three games, Tim scored a total of three points while tallying one rebound, one assist and one steal.

Ohlbrecht did have some basketball accolades outside of the NBA, however. He was a member of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers that won the D-League title in 2013-14, making the D-League All-Star team in his first season with them. He was also a three-time All-Star for the German basketball league, Basketball Bundesliga.