Do the Rockets Really have Tension in the Locker Room?

Earlier this month, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins made a bold claim, as it pertains to the Houston Rockets. The NBA champion stated that the Rockets' players have a rift amongst themselves and don't exactly like one another.

Perkins went even further, adding that the players don't spend time together outside of the clubhouse. He even went so far as to say that the Rockets players don't go to dinner with one another. Perkins painted the picture of a general level of disengagement between teammates.

ESPN's Michael C. Wright added on, pouring gasoline onto the fire, stating that other front office executives around the league agree with Perkins on ESPN's Howdy Partners.

"I had an executive that I was talking to. He said that when you watch the Rockets play, you can kind of tell that they don't rock with each other. That's what the outside perception is.

And it's funny because you don't know what that looks like until you cover or you're around a team that has the vibes. Like I'm around the Spurs all the time and obviously that's very vibe heavy."

Wright continued, adding that one can notice that element missing from other teams when they've seen it present with a team.

"I think that's going on with the Rockets."

As if those two weren't enough, NBA veteran Charlie Villanueva said much of the same on To The Baha.

"Let's talk about the real issue, to me. Your two best players don't get along. You can tell. I don't know what the relationship is, but from the outside looking in, it looks like they don't f-k with each other. Because you can see whenever Sengun does some sh-t, KD making faces, body language ain't good and vice versa.

The problem with Villanueva's assessment is that he clearly states that he doesn't know the nature of the relationship between Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun. So why state in the previous sentence that they don't get along?

That seems like a specific thing to speculate or opine about, for someone openly admitting that they don't know. How is that even measured? Or confirmed?

But where there's smoke, there's generally fire. Generally.

But this is only something that comes out when the team loses. Remember when Durant said it, following Houston's victory over the Atlanta Hawks?

Durant also noted that this would happen once the Rockets lost again. It would seem like those whispers would be loud regardless of the outcome.

It just comes off as low-hanging fruit. It can't be proven.It's more believable that the Rockets are struggling from a lack of familiarity amongst one another. Four of Houston’s key rotational pieces are new to the lineup this season in Kevin Durant, Reed Sheppard, Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith. Two of those are starters.

Three of Houston's starters from last season are gone, in Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green, not to mention Steven Adams. That was always going to be an uphill battle.

And that has a direct effect on the outcome. Certainly more than whether the team eats dinner together, or dislikes each other, to the naked eye.