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Marc Stein: I'm told that Aaron Holiday's deal with Maxima Roma contains an NBA out throughout the contract that enables him to come back to the States if an NBA team is prepared to meet buyout conditions. The eight-year veteran guard spent the past three seasons with the Rockets.
Maxima Roma has announced the signing of Aaron Holiday, who arrives from the Houston Rockets. A highly talented, athletic and reliable point guard, Holiday’s main strengths are his three-point shooting, aggressiveness attacking the rim and tenacious defense. A complete and modern player, he brings speed, exceptional scoring ability and proven, steady leadership to the team, making him an invaluable floor general.
“I am extremely proud to join Maxima Roma and take on my first challenge in European basketball. For me and my family, this represents an important step and an exciting opportunity, as I immediately felt the club’s great confidence in me and the serious ambition behind this project. Having played at the highest level in the NBA motivates me to bring that winning mentality, leadership and intensity here every single day. Competing in both Serie A and the EuroCup provides a challenging stage where we can build something special and fight to win trophies across Europe. Rome is an iconic city with a passionate fan base that deserves basketball at the highest level. I can’t wait to start working with the coaching staff and my new teammates to establish our identity, impose our pace on both ends of the floor and win games,” Aaron Holiday said.
Varun Shankar: Josh Okogie is dealing with back tightness. Aaron Holiday had an adductor issue, per Udoka. Both tried to give it a go but weren't moving well in G3, leading to limited minutes.
Varun Shankar: Injury report for #Rockets - Sixers: - Holiday questionable - Embiid looks likely to play, excited to see him vs Sengun
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Michael Scotto: The Houston Rockets declined the $4.9 million team option on guard Aaron Holiday, sources told @hoopshype. Holiday is expected to return to the Rockets on a 1-year deal. Holiday, a favorite of coach Ime Udoka, averaged 5.5 points, including 39.8%, from 3-point range, this season.
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For most basketball fans, the nickname Fab Five conjures up memories of the star-studded University of Michigan men’s basketball team of the 1990s with Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. For basketball fans in Hawaii, about two decades earlier they had their own Fabulous Five: Dwight Holiday, Bob Nash, Jerome Freeman, Al Davis and John Penebacker, who made history and broke racial barriers. And thanks to the basketball foundation built by Holiday, his younger brother, Shawn, not only became a basketball star in his own right, but just happens to be the father of three NBA players: Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, free agent guard Justin Holiday and Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday. “Uncle Dwight was a part of the original ‘Fab Five.’ I heard about that from my pops when I was growing up,” Jrue Holiday said in a phone interview. “He was a remarkable basketball player. I never got to see him play on film. But he could hoop and it runs in the family.”
The University of Hawaii’s men’s basketball program had a dismal 6-20 record during the 1969-70 season. Coach Red Rocha turned the program around by adding a strong recruiting class with Dwight Holiday, Freeman, Nash, Penebacker and Davis. Dwight Holiday was a junior college star at Hartnell College in Salinas, California, who said he once scored 56 points. Holiday said he received scholarship offers from La Salle University in Philadelphia and the University of Detroit, but didn’t want to leave California. While working at Dick Bruhn Family of Stores in Salinas, then-Hawaii assistant coach Bruce O’Neal called him there trying to convince him to play for the Rainbows. “[O’Neal] kept calling the store,” Dwight Holiday, 71, recalled. “And this old white man that worked there said, ‘Who’s this man that keeps calling the store from Hawaii?’ I said, ‘They want me to play there.’ And he said, ‘If I could go to Hawaii, I would go.’ So, I went. I didn’t think about it that deeply. I didn’t know it was that far and across water.” Holiday, Nash, Freeman, Davis and Penebacker became the starting five of the most beloved Hawaii basketball team after it put the program on the map nationally. They also happened to be the school’s first all-Black starting five.
Scott is reminded of Shawn Holiday when he watches Jrue Holiday in the NBA now. “Jrue plays just like him with his demeanor, toughness and the way he guards on the defensive end and pride in that,” Scott said. “[He] Can score when he has to or needs to but plays just like his dad.” That was surprising to Jrue Holiday when he heard those words for the first time. He said the competitiveness and willingness to play hard on both ends that he and his brothers have “taken to heart” came from his father. “Every time someone talked about my dad, they said, ‘Your dad was really good,’ ” Jrue Holiday said. “[Scott’s words] are just confirmation. Honestly, I couldn’t beat my dad [in one-on-one] until I was [in my] mid- to high teens. I never doubted my dad’s knowledge of the game, but just hearing that is confirmation that maybe under different circumstances he could have chosen to go to the NBA or be a professional basketball player.” “My old high school coach taught me the defense that I taught [Shawn] and Jrue uses now,” Said Dwight Holiday said.
Michael Scotto: The Houston Rockets and Aaron Holiday agreed to a 2-year, $10 million deal, which includes a team option for the 2025-26 season, sources told @hoopshype. The Athletic first reported an agreement and veteran Rockets scribe @Jonathan_Feigen was also on it regarding the team option.
