For eleven days beginning on December 18, Qualcomm Stadium, football home of the San Diego Chargers and San Diego State Aztecs, will carry a temporary new moniker: Snapdragon Stadium. Snapdragon processors by Qualcomm are the digital brains inside mobile devices made by top manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Nokia, and HTC. Snapdragon Stadium will host the Chargers-Ravens game on December 18, the Poinsettia Bowl on December 21, and the Holiday Bowl on December 28.
Clearly, we're coming to you (LIVE, Brent Musberger) in the form of a sponsored post, but take a second to think this over: Who is Houston's core player? We can think of three quite easily. They are Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin. They're the three core amigos, but alas, there can only be one core amigo.
I'm tempted to go with Scola since he's been here the longest. He's also the most consistently productive player on Houston's roster over the last three years. Plus, it's Luis. He's the Ice Cream Man, the Argentinian Slayer. We all love Luis, and Luis loves us.
Thing is, as much as I want to bite, I don't consider Scola to be the Rockets' core player.
So what's a core player anyway? To me, it's the most important player on the floor, the leader who makes everything around him better and the player on whom a team can depend with little doubt.
I'm giving this to Kyle Lowry, for a few reasons.
1) This is now a league of point guards, and among the many young stars-in-the-making, perhaps nobody has risen so suddenly as Lowry, giving Houston it's dynamite floor general to keep them on the map.
2) As Lowry got better, Houston got better. The more Kyle saw the floor, the more Houston began to gel together. His attitude and mentality spread throughout the team. There's no denying Scola's dedication, but it's not quite as infectious.
3) If you're looking for the Rockets' best two-way player, look no further than Lowry. He does it on both ends and never takes a break, single-handedly keeping alive the scrappy Rockets mantra of the mid-2000s.
What do you think? Pick one guy. Who is the Rockets' core player?
Want a chance to win an HTC Rezound powered by Qualcomm's revolutionary Snapdragon multiprocessor? Just leave a comment on this post with who you think the team's core player is and why he's so important to their success. Vox Media will select one winner from among the participating SB Nation blogs. All entries subject to the official rules found here .