Young Houston Rockets center Clint Capela a rising star on team

HOUSTON, Texas -- Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni thinks very highly of his young center once saying it's just a matter of time until Clint N'Dumba-Capela becomes among the league's elite centers.

At just 23, the young Rockets center from Switzerland is already becoming a rising star on the team.

In an ESPN article from 2017, Capela talked about his life growing up in Geneva, described as "not the nice part" of town.

He lived in a group home with teen boys who were dealing drugs and had anger issues.

Capela's mother, Philomene, was an immigrant from the Congo and raised her sons as a single mother after her husband left when Capela was a baby.

Capela discovered the game of basketball at 12 years old. He learned to love the game at 14, joining the Swiss under-16 national team.

Capela was later recruited into the French club Elan Chalon training academy. After finishing there at 20 years old, he played in the French Pro A league.

Read more about Capela's childhood here.

Fast forward to 2014 when Capela started his journey into the NBA.

The Rockets drafted him 25th in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Since then, Capela has earned respect from his teammates and especially Coach D'Antoni.

"When you say what the modern center should look like, it'll have his picture there," D'Antoni told ESPN.

Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon works closely with Capela during practices. The knowledge and experience from The Dream has rubbed off.

This season, Capela is averaging 14.4 points and 11 rebounds per game playing along with stars James Harden and Chris Paul.

As of March 7, the trio, when they are all playing, is 33-1.

And off the court, Capela has proven to have a big heart.

During Hurricane Harvey, Capela took to social media to find help for those who needed it.

While Capela was semi-stranded in a downtown Houston apartment building, he spent a lot of time on Twitter to spread the word to help trapped residents and even abandoned pets in need of rescue.

"I've never seen anything like this," Capela told ESPN. "I'm from Switzerland, and I've never seen this before. So I was just trying to help the people, and I saw that it was working pretty good; my help was really effective."

He said even though Houston is not his home, he has a lot of love for the Bayou City.

"This city has helped me a lot, and everybody has been really good to me."