Houston Rockets Center Talks NBA Struggles

Australian big man Jock Landale sits down and talks about the struggles of an NBA role player in podcast interview.

Apr 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Jock Landale (2) dunks the ball during the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

We rarely hear about the struggles of the NBA from a player who is still in the league, but Rockets center Jock Landale sat down with the Ausamerican Aces podcast to detail his struggles and frustrations as an NBA role player.

Landale will be entering his fifth NBA season in 2025-26, and has played a significant role in the Rockets' big man rotations. Prior to joining the Rockets in 2023, Landale went undrafted out of Saint Mary's College in 2018, which prompted him to head overseas, playing in Serbia, Lithuania and his home country of Australia.

In 2021, Landale was picked up by the San Antonio Spurs for a season before joining the Phoenix Suns in 2022. After those two stops, Landale ultimately found a home in Houston signing a four year contract for $32 million in 2023.

During Landale's interview, he discussed the hardships some bench players may face when it comes to the inconsistency of minutes.

"A lot of people probably don't understand that the guys that are playing, teams will cap them to a certain number of minutes on the court, so it might be 15, 20 minutes, get some shots, but then you got to go. Their days between games is borderline no basketball."

Apr 2, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Jock Landale (2) reacts after a basket made by guard Reed Sheppard (not pictured) during the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

It was a passionate interview where Landale voiced multiple frustrations with playing late game minutes by adding, "Then at the end of the game, you might get thrown in for 10 minutes. The next day we come in, the guys who haven't played or have played below a certain number of minutes, you come in and you play, and we'll play hard for an hour, and it's competitive because a lot of us are getting out our frustration of the fact that we're not playing in real games"

Landale, who averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds this season, is hopeful to carve out a bigger role next season with Houston, and with the light depth of big men in Houston, Landale could get his opportunity during the 2025-26 season.