Franchise History

1967-1968: Beginnings in San Diego
A San Diego Rockets entered the NBA around 1967 as an expansion team in a same month the Seattle SuperSonics entered. It selected Pat Riley with their first draft pick around 1967, & proceeded to the so-NBA record 67-loss year.

1968-1971: The "Big E" coin toss
A Rockets won a coin toss versus a Baltimore Bullets, earning them a first pick in the NBA Draft, selecting Elvin "the Big E" Hayes from the University of Houston. Hayes led a team to the franchise's number one ever playoff appearance inside 1969.

Move to Houston
Inside 1971, real estate broker Wayne Duddleston and banker Billy Goldberg bought the franchise for $5.6 million & resettled a team from either San Diego, where there was a want of fan trend lines, to Houston, Texas, the home town of Hayes. A Rockets began swimming at a Astrodome and AstroHall, both inside Houston, a HemisFair Arena, in San Antonio, the Hofheinz Pavilion, on the University of Houston campus, and at Waco. But, fan trend lines was likewise scarcely in the football-dominated city, and a Rockets averaged less than 5000 fans by a game the 1st year. a local legend has it that occasionally times the local churches around Waco drew more humans than a Rockets. Despite this, a team played swell, getting ii promising immature players inside Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich.

1972-74: Hayes traded
Fallowing options trading Hayes to the Baltimore Bullets for Jack Marin, the Rockets went into the rebuilding mode for the next deuce seasons. A want of winning did little to capture a city's attention.

1974-76: Playoffs
By owning Coach John Egan's guidance & Tomjanovich, White potato, & Mike Newlin leading a way, the Rockets processed their foremost appearance around the playoffs since arriving in Houston. A rockets defeated a New York Knicks (with Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, and Jerry Lucas) in the first circular & advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals before losing to the Boston Celtics.

1976-77: A savior
At a insistence of freshly coach Tom Nissalke, a trade was completed using a Buffalo Braves to acquire Moses Malone, who as a high school star manufactured a unprecedented guide of bypassing college basketball to sign as a office using a Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974. A Rockets, today led by Tomjanovich, White potato, Newlin, Malone, Kevin Kunnert, and greenhorn guard John Lucas, took the Central Section title. Malone, so the novice 21-month old, outbattled Wes Unseld and Hayes to help a Rockets to the playoff triumph around captain hicks games against the Washington Bullets. A Rockets' hopes ended against a Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals on the controversial charging call for against Lucas in the final moments of Game 6.

1977-78: The punch felt 'round the world
Inside the December 9 game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Kunnert got into a fight using the Lakers' Kermit Washington. When Tomjanovich ran all over to the 2, Wa turned & blindly swung his clenched fist. the right blow landed squarely on the face of a running off Tomjanovich, stimulating massive jaw, eye, & cheek injuries; Tomjanovich's skull was besides fractured after his head hit a floor. That shocking scene became a shaping moment of non merely a Rockets' 1977-78 month (the conference finals team the former year, collapsed into go place using a 28-54 record) however likewise of ii basketball players' agent careers. Tomjanovich, displaying a "heart of a champion", spent a next 5 months around rehab giving to play as an NBA everthing-star.

1978-80: Malone shines, slow playoff progress
Malone receives a league's MVP Award. Malone, non exceptionally large or even quickly, utilized subtle moves, right aligning, & bulldog determination to be the superb center. Malone, Spud, & Tomjanovich (world health organization got returned to norm Nineteen.Cypher points) completely played in the 1979 NBA 100%-Star Game. Rick Barry also joined a team that month as a absolutely free! professional, by owning the Rockets sending John Lucas to Golden State Warriors as compensation. A new Hall of Famer, now in the twilight of his career, averaged the mild Xiii.Quintet points. He did placed the fresh NBthe record, nevertheless, by posting a .947 yours free!-throw percentage for the year. He would play a single sir thomas more month for the Rockets prior to retiring within 1980.

A Rockets went 47-35 around 1978-79, Nissalke's go year when coach, finshing 2nd inside the Central Section losing ii straight to Atlantthe in a right-of-3 1st-around series.

Del Harris replaced Nissalke at the helm for the 1979-80 campaign. A Rockets finished a season at 41-41, ligature a San Antonio Spurs for second place in the Central Section. When beating a Spurs, ii games to a single, in the foremost-around playoff series, it were swept per Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

a arrival of a third NBA team within Texas, the Dallas Mavericks, caused the reshuffle within 1980-81 that sent Houston to the Midwest Section of the American Conference, which likewise involved San Antonio, Kansas City, Denver, Utah, & Dallas.

1980-81: The promised land
Malone carries a Rockets to NBA finals. Tater, a shortest streaming video player in the league, sets 2 NBA records, sinking 78 sequentially absolutely free! throws to break Rick Barry's mark of Lx placed within 1976 achieving the free-throw percentage of .958 breaking Rick Barry's record placed by owning a Rockets around 1979. More members of the 80-81 team were Rudy Tomjanovich, Robert Reid, Mike Dunleavy, Sr., Allen Leavell, Billy Paultz, Bill Willoughby, Calvin Garrett, Tom Henderson, and Major Jones. Houston attached using Kansas City for second place in the Midwest behind San Antonio by owning regular year at 40-42.

Houston playoff rerun began by drawing a defending NBA-champion Lakers & Magic Johnson in the first spherical. A Rockets upset Los Angeles, deuce games to 1, so had retiring a Spurs & George Gervin, four games to tercet, in the american conference semi. This install an improbable conference finals match-up sustaining Kansas City. A Kings, led by Otis Birdsong, Scott Wedman, and Phil Ford fell to the Rockets in 5 games. the Houston Rockets eventually mass produced it to finals, the 1st period a team from either Houston played for even a championship within basketball, football, or baseball. A championship series by using Boston was fought to six games. Regrettably, a Celtics by having Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Cedric Maxwell, and Kevin McHale were too heavy.

A Celtics defeated a Rockets once again in the 1986 NBA Finals.

1993-94: Champions at Last!
By having Hakeem Olajuwon as their center, a Rockets kill the New York Knicks in seven games. Fallowing existence down Trinity games to Deuce in a NBA Finals, a Rockets win the previous deuce games in their house court, thanks to the misfortunes of Up to date York's better shooter: Knicks guard John Starks misses what would have been a series-winning Three-pointer at a buzzer around Game 6 when the shot was blocked by Olajuwon, & he shoots a cold Two-for-18 from either the field around Game 7, missing completely sise of his Terzetto-point shot tries.

1994-95: The Glide Comes Home
Within the midseason trade using Portland, the Rockets obtain star guard Clyde Drexler, who got played alongside Olajuwon at a University of Houston. Houston struggles in a regular year, & it enter the playoffs as a sixth seed in the American Conference. It is non potential to kill a 60-22 Utah Jazz in a first spherical, the 59-23 Phoenix Suns in a second around, or even the 62-20 San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals. In point of fact, a Suns lead a 2nd-spherical series Threesome games to Single (even as it did in a equivalent around the month prior to). Nonetheless, Houston returns to win a previous tercet games of a series, and so gets retiring a Spurs to email a Finals, in which it is matched higher using the Orlando Magic. Sustaining Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, the Magic is expected to win the championship, but Houston sweeps the series in four straight games. Such as his old friend Olajuwon did a last month, Drexler lives a joy of winning an NBA championship finally. A Rockets turn into a 1st team inside NBA history to win a championship as a sixth seed. Additionally, a team becomes a 1st around NBA history to beat 4 50-wwithin teams in one postseason on the way to the championship.

1996-00: Post-Championship years
A post championship years declined a team when Hakeem Olajuwon was aging. A bit of of the role players such as Sam Cassell and Robert Horry were traded for Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns and Matt Maloney drafted into the team within 1996. It were full, however a Utah Jazz eliminated them from either a American Conference Finals inside 1997 and inside the first spherical in 1998, dimished any chances of holding an NBA title again. So within 1999 brought the fall of the winning team reputation it got, when Charles Barkley was injured & planned to retire when a injury, however a fall besides brought a few it used to be that thought freshly hope, Scottie Pippen was traded from a Bulls when Micheal Jordans 2nd retirement, & Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley arrived into the team that month. It had into a playoffs within 1999 with the record of 31-19 in a Fifth place seed, however misused to the Los Angeles Lakers in a first spherical sustaining the series of Three-One, this ended the Rockets winning years as the years in the lead would bring the series of losses & a bad reputation.

2000-02: The Struggling Years
a Rockets in a period of the this era were a aggregate blowout, & reciprocally brought loss of national respect it when experienced, the Rockets nevertheless in the season 2000 brought a 45-37, however it however didn't cut a children into the playoffs. So a aged Hakeem Olajuwon was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2001 which leaves only Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley when successors in existence a head stars in a team, however the resulting 2001-2002 year was there is no profits, as their team was moslty mass produced higher of immature Cub & bench players which processed Francis & Mobley's job of making the team a winning a single sir thomas more hard. A number one "Hakeem-less" year around nearly Twenty years was attached higher at the disspointing record at 28-54.

2002-Present: Yao Ming Era
the losing year of 2001-2002 brought dishonor & a aggregate loss of faith of the Rockets nationally & locally inside Houston. On the other hand Yao Ming a tall 7 foot & Captain hicks inches Chinese basketball player from either a Shanghai Sharks decided to participate in the NBA draft of 2002, eventually he was picked & was quick for the job. Humans conidered him when a "New Hakeem" due to his height & a ability to shoot a ball easy, & his hard blocking defense. the 2002-2003 basketball year was the large clean & jerk higher & the definite link to of a winning team reputation which was misplaced when you took the turn of the century and a newly "Rockets trio" (Yao Ming, Steve Francis, and Cuttino Mobley). All the same the year ended around a familar record of 43-39. a next 2003-200Four year wwhen wholly similar year, by having the second familiar record of 45-37, nonetheless a simply difference was that it eventually processed their 21st Century playoff debut, however it were eliminated inside a similar fate as their preceding teams, existence knocked out by owning a 4-One record in the number one around of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. So when you took a offseason a Rockets trio ended when Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley and other familar teamates were traded to the Orlando Magic, but reciprocally was Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, and several others. McGrady & Yao led their team to their better record within Ten years, finishing a season at 51-31 & seeded Fifth in the American Conference Playoffs. Their year ended within a number 1 around of the playoffs when it misused to their in-state competition, the Dallas Mavericks 4-3 in a American Number 1 Spherical, & in a period of the todays off-year the rockets found Stromile Swift, and Derek Anderson. It own likewise traded Mike James to the Toronto Raptors for Rafer Alston.

Players of note
Basketball Hall of Famers:
Elvin Hayes Moses Malone Calvin Murphy Clyde Drexler

Current Roster (updated October 5th, 2005)

Not to be forgotten:
Charles Barkley Rick Barry Scott Brooks Chucky Brown Matt Bullard Sam Cassell Kelvin Cato Pete Chilcutt Mario Elie Eric Floyd Steve Francis Dave Gambee Eddie Griffin Othella Harrington Steve Harris Carl Herrera Robert Horry Buck Johnson Toby Kimball Don Kojis Kevin Kunnert Allen Leavell Lewis Lloyd John Lucas Sam Mack Matt Maloney Vernon Maxwell Rodney McCray Cuttino Mobley Mike Newlin Moochie Norris Scottie Pippen Brent Price Robert Reid Glen Rice Ralph Sampson Purvis Short Kenny Smith Otis Thorpe Jimmy Walker Walt Williams Bill Willoughby

Retired numbers:
Twenty-two Clyde Drexler Twenty-three Calvin Murphy Two dozen Moses Malone 34 Hakeem Olajuwon 45 Rudy Tomjanovich