Eric Gordon, Royce O’Neale reflect on old teams and new life with Suns

HOUSTON — Judging by the warm reception Eric Gordon received from his teammates during Friday’s return to the Toyota Center, it was clear how profound his presence was during his three seasons in a Houston Rockets uniform.

Gordon, now in his 16th NBA season, has always been regarded as one of the more straightforward players in the league. The 35-year-old doesn’t sugarcoat things — he’s going to tell you exactly how it is. As a veteran previously caught in between eras of Rocket basketball, there was no one with a better vantage point. Gordon’s not vocal, but his voice carries when he uses it.

A little over a year ago, Gordon’s scathing comments about the state of Houston’s rebuild was as prominent of a sign of just how bad things had become. Since then, the Rockets’ overall situation has improved. As of right now, the 25-32 squad sits 4.5 games outside of the final Play-In Tournament spot in the West, but enough wins over quality opponents — including the Phoenix Suns as recent as last weekend — are just another sign of the improvement underway.

Recently, Gordon spoke with The Athletic about what he’s seeing from his former team, life in Phoenix, championship chasing and more.

A year ago you stood in this arena and said there was no improvement as it pertains to Houston’s overall rebuild. What can you say to that now? 

Everything’s different. You can tell they’re headed in the right direction. They’ve won a lot of games early on and you can tell all their young guys have gotten better. You can tell they’re moving in the right way.

What have you seen from the effect head coach Ime Udoka has had on this team over the first “half” of the season? 

He was a player, I played against him and he was a hard-nosed player. And you can see it as a coach. He’s seen it all. He knows what he’s doing. It’s good for the Rockets that he’s here.

Being in Phoenix now on a team that’s considered to be a championship contender, do you feel that grit or presence of guys that need to win now and recognize that?

 Yeah. For sure. We’re all in for the now. And that’s the situation that every player desires to be in. That’s what I look forward to and a lot of these guys look forward to also.

How has the acclimation process been for you overall? Been quite eventful for you over the past 12 months. 

We know we have a good team. We’ve hit our strides here and there during the season, but we just got to keep our poise and we’ll be OK.

You’ve been considered an X-factor for a long time because of your ability to space the floor and take pressure away from others. On a team like the Suns with as much star power as they have, what value does that bring?

I can always bring effective scoring and playmaking when things get tough. And I’m never afraid of taking the shot toward the end of the game. But when I get going, I get going. I like to change the game. So that’s what I’m here for — if some of these guys…