Houston Has Been Home Of The Big Man-From Moses To
Ralph To Hakeem
The Houston Rockets were introduced to the NBA as the San Diego
Rockets in 1967, the same year that the American Basketball
Association launched itself as a rival league. Despite boasting the
great Elvin Hayes through the early years, the Rockets never caught
on in San Diego and moved to Houston after only four seasons. The
franchise stumbled through its first five years in Houston before
acquiring Moses Malone early in the 1976-77 campaign. Malone put
the club on his hulking shoulders and carried the Rockets to
respectability. Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon bore the big-man
banner in the 1980s and into the 1990s, posting impressive seasons.
Eventually Olajuwon would lead the Rockets to back-to-back
championship banners in 1994 and 1995.
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1967-68: A Disappointing Debut
That the Rockets were lost amid professional basketball
teams in the late 1960s is not surprising. San Diego entered the
NBA in 1967-68 along with the Seattle SuperSonics. The ABA
introduced 11 new teams that year, and the NBA would add two clubs
the following season. Furthermore, the Rockets' debut season
resulted in a 15-67 record, the most losses ever recorded by an NBA
team at the time.
A starting lineup of Don Kojis and Johnny Green at forward, John
Block at center, and Jon McGlocklin and John Barnhill at guard
played the team's first game on October 14, 1967, before a crowd of
7,476 in the San Diego Sports Arena. Coached by General Manager
Jack McMahon, the Rockets lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 99-98. The
team limped to a 2-14 start and didn't earn its 10th victory until
Christmas Day. As the Rockets staggered to a league-worst record,
they could take consolation in the fact that they would own the
first overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft.
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1968-71: "The Big E"
After winning a coin toss with the Baltimore Bullets,
the Rockets selected Elvin "the Big E" Hayes from the University of
Houston. (The Bullets took Wes Unseld with the No. 2 pick.) Hayes
had just finished a storied college career, highlighted by a
39-point performance against UCLA and Lew Alcindor when the Cougars
snapped the Bruins' 43-game winning streak on national television.
Hayes quickly showed that he could play in the professional
ranks. As a rookie in 1968-69 he captured the NBA's scoring title
by pouring in 28.4 points per game. He transformed the Rockets into
a respectable club, leading San Diego to a 37-45 record, fourth in
the Western Division and ahead of the Chicago Bulls, the Seattle
SuperSonics, and the Phoenix Suns. The Rockets made the playoffs,
but the Hawks, in their first year in Atlanta, eliminated them,
four games to two, in a semifinal series. Kojis, who scored 22.5
points per game during the regular season, joined Hayes in the 1969
NBA All-Star Game.
Despite a spectacular rookie season, Hayes played second fiddle
to Baltimore's Unseld when it came to league honors. After
averaging 18.2 rebounds and leading the Bullets to a first-place
finish in the Eastern Division, Unseld was named the NBA Rookie of
the Year and Most Valuable Player for 1968-69.
Hayes, who would eventually become a Hall of Fame selection, was
a big man with quick moves and a soft touch, the kind of player
that could lead a team to prosperity. He averaged more than 27
points in his first three seasons, but his support was minimal.
With new coach Alex Hannum at the helm in 1969-70, the Rockets went
27-55. They finished 40-42 in 1970-71, and by 1971-72 they were in
Houston.
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1971-72: Basketball Comes To Football-Crazed Houston
An ambitious group in the humid oil town, headed by
real estate broker Wayne Duddleston and banker Billy Goldberg,
bought the franchise for $5.6 million. Houston was in an intense
buying period, acquiring its way to status as a big-league city.
There seemed to be a belief, unrealistic as it may have been, that
hometown hero Hayes could immediately make basketball a success in
the football-crazed city.
"The owners remembered Elvin packing 50,000 into the Astrodome
for the UCLA game in 1968," longtime Rockets General Manager Ray
Patterson once said. "They were thinking, 'Let's see, 50,000 people
at $10 a head, that's a $500,000 gate every night.'"
Real life proved to be different for the Rockets' investors.
With an average home attendance of 4,966 in the club's inaugural
season in Houston, the organization couldn't begin to meet
operating expenses. The Rockets played home games at the Astrodome
and AstroHall, at HemisFair Arena in San Antonio, at Hofheinz
Pavilion on the University of Houston campus, and in Waco. Legend
has it that one Wednesday night in Waco the local churches drew
more people than the Rockets; the only fan in the box seats slept
through the game and had to be awakened after it was over.
Still, the team was respectable in 1971-72. Hayes, now in his
fourth season, ranked among the league leaders in both scoring
(25.2 ppg) and rebounding (14.6 rpg), and the team boasted two
sparkling young players in Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich. The
Rockets' first year in Houston produced a 34-48 record and a
fourth-place finish in the Pacific Division.
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1972-74: Rockets Trade Hayes, But Still Endure Losing Ways
Prior to the 1972-73 season Hayes was traded to the
Baltimore Bullets for Jack Marin and future considerations.
Houston, now in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference, was
led by Tomjanovich (19.3 ppg), Marin (18.5), Jimmy Walker (18.0),
and Mike Newlin (17.0). In an ongoing battle between two of the
game's best free-throw shooters, Murphy's .888 free-throw
percentage was second only to the Golden State Warriors forward
Rick Barry's .902 mark. Newlin ranked third at .886. The team
finished 33-49 and in third place in the division.
Although Tomjanovich and Murphy became two of the better players
in the league in 1973-74, their improvement didn't move the Rockets
along in the standings. Houston finished the season at 32-50,
another third-place finish in the Central Division.
Murphy was becoming something of a sensation. A quick 5-9 point
guard, he averaged 20.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 1.9 steals and
boasted a .522 field-goal percentage. He would be elected to the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.
The team had yet to catch the city's fancy, however. "One night
we were on the bench...talking about where we wanted to go after
the game," Tomjanovich recalled. "It was so quiet that a guy way up
in the stands yells out, 'No, no, don't go there. That's not a good
place to eat.'" Ray Patterson recalls another night during this
period, driving to a season opener against Pete Maravich and
Atlanta at Hofheinz Pavilion. Patterson was encouraged because of
the heavy traffic. "But then we got there and everybody turned off
to go to a nearby stadium for high school football," he said. "The
high school game drew about 20,000. We had about 200."
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1974-76: A Glimmer Of Progress
The 1974-75 campaign brought a glimmer of progress.
With Tomjanovich, Murphy, and Newlin still leading the way, the
Rockets jumped to a 10-5 start and were 37-31 by March 8. By
season's end they had managed a 41-41 mark to finish in second
place in the Central Division behind the Washington Bullets. With
Coach John Egan guiding the club for a second full season, the
Rockets made their first appearance in the playoffs since arriving
in Houston, meeting New York in a newly added best-of-three
first-round series.
The Knicks, an aging team with Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill
Bradley, and Jerry Lucas, couldn't keep up with the youthful
Rockets. Houston took the series, two games to one, and advanced to
meet the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Boston, a
Dave Cowens-led team that had registered 60 wins in the regular
season, thrashed Houston, four games to one.
The season had helped basketball in Houston, however. While
battling for a playoff spot late in the year, the team achieved its
first sellout at Hofheinz Pavilion by packing in 10,518 fans.
The 1975-76 Rockets were unable to improve on the prior season,
finishing 40-42 and out of the playoffs. The starters for much of
the year were Rudy Tomjanovich, Calvin Murphy, Mike Newlin, Kevin
Kunnert, and Ed Ratleff.
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1976-77: Rockets Find A Savior In Moses
The franchise came to life during the 1976-77 season
with the arrival of Moses Malone. Of all NBA players' stories,
Malone's is among the most interesting. A high school star in
Petersburg, Virginia, he made the unprecedented move of bypassing
college basketball to sign with the Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974.
He averaged 18.8 points and 14.6 rebounds in his first year, then
played a season with the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis. When the ABA
and NBA merged following the 1975-76 campaign, Malone found himself
on the roster of the NBA's Buffalo Braves to start the 1976-77
season.
On October 24, 1976, after Malone had played only two games with
the Braves, Buffalo sent him to the Rockets in exchange for two
first-round draft picks. Houston made the move at the insistence of
new coach Tom Nissalke, who had been at the helm in Utah during
Malone's rookie year with the Stars. Joining the Rockets at age 21,
Malone was thought by many to still be in the learning stages. If
so, he was in the accelerated class. He averaged 13.2 points and
13.1 rebounds in 1976-77 and led the league in offensive rebounds
with 437.
A Rockets team led by Tomjanovich, Murphy, Newlin, Malone,
Kunnert, and rookie guard John Lucas edged Washington to take the
Central Division title with a 49-33 record. Tomjanovich paced the
team in scoring (21.6 ppg) and made his fourth consecutive All-Star
appearance. The Rockets earned a bye in the playoffs and met the
Bullets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Malone, still a
skinny kid at this point, outbattled Wes Unseld and Hayes and
helped fire the Rockets to a series victory, four games to two.
Against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals, the
Rockets fell in six games. A controversial charging call against
Lucas in the final moments of Game 6 helped the Sixers clinch the
series.
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1977-78: The Night A Boxing Match Broke Out
The defining moment of the Rockets' 1977-78 season came
in a December 9 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. In a
horrifying sequence of events, Kunnert got into a fight with the
Lakers' Kermit Washington. As Tomjanovich ran over to try to break
it up, Washington turned and blindly swung his fist. The blow
landed squarely on Tomjanovich's face, causing massive jaw, eye,
and cheek injuries. Tomjanovich spent the next five months in
rehab, and although he returned the following season he would never
be the same player again.
With Tomjanovich's jaw shattered, so was Houston's season. The
Rockets, who had advanced to the conference finals the previous
year, finished in last place with a 28-54 record.
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1978-80: Malone Shines, But Houston Stumbles In Playoffs
The next season Malone came into his own. He averaged
24.8 points, grabbed a league-best 17.6 rebounds per game-almost
five better than New Orleans Jazz's Rich Kelley (12.8 rpg)-and
received the league's MVP Award. Malone, not exceptionally big or
quick, used subtle moves, perfect positioning, and bulldog
determination to become a superb center. Malone, Murphy, and
Tomjanovich (who had returned to average 19.0 points) all played in
the 1979 NBA All-Star Game.
Rick Barry also joined the team that year as a free agent, with
the Rockets sending John Lucas to Golden State as compensation. The
future Hall of Famer, now in the twilight of his career, averaged a
modest 13.5 points. He did set a new NBA record, however, by
posting a .947 free-throw percentage for the season. He would play
one more year for the Rockets before retiring in 1980.
The Rockets went 47-35 in 1978-79, Nissalke's last season as
coach, for a second-place finish in the Central Division. They
brought high hopes into the playoffs but lost two straight to
Atlanta in a best-of-three first-round series.
Del Harris replaced Nissalke at the helm for the 1979-80
campaign. Malone continued to dominate inside, averaging 25.8
points and 14.5 rebounds. Murphy contributed 20.0 points per
contest, while Barry ended his career by scoring 12.0 points per
game. The Rockets finished the year at 41-41, tying San Antonio for
second place in the Central Division. They upended the Spurs, two
games to one, in a first-round playoff series before being swept by
the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The arrival of a third NBA team in Texas, the Dallas Mavericks,
caused a reshuffling in 1980-81 that sent Houston to the Western
Conference. The Rockets joined the Midwest Division, which also
included San Antonio, Kansas City, Denver, Utah, and Dallas.
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1980-81: Rockets Take An Improbable Trip
Second-year players Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic"
Johnson were the talk of the NBA for the 1980-81 season, but it was
Moses Malone who carried his team on an improbable trip to the NBA
Finals. Malone ranked second in the league in scoring (27.8 ppg)
and first in rebounding (14.8 rpg), finishing runner-up to
Philadelphia's Julius Erving for the MVP Award. Murphy, 32 years
old and the shortest player in the league, had a season to
remember. In addition to scoring 16.7 points per game, he sank 78
consecutive free throws during the year to break the previous NBA
mark of 60 set by Rick Barry in 1976. Murphy ended the season with
an NBA-record .958 free-throw percentage (206-of-215), erasing the
.947 mark Barry had set while with the Rockets in 1979.
The team also received solid contributions from Rudy Tomjanovich
(11.6 ppg) and Robert Reid (15.9), a versatile 6-8 player who was
the only Rocket to start all 82 games. Other occasional starters
included Mike Dunleavy, Allen Leavell, Billy Paultz, Bill
Willoughby, Calvin Garrett, Tom Henderson, and Major Jones. Houston
finished the 1980-81 regular season at 40-42, tied with Kansas City
for second in the Midwest behind San Antonio.
The Rockets sneaked into the playoffs by one game in the final
weekend of the regular season. They then began an admirable playoff
run. Drawing the defending NBA-champion Lakers in the first round,
the Rockets were given little chance. But they clipped Los Angeles,
two games to one, then got past the San Antonio Spurs and George
Gervin, four games to three, in the conference semifinals. This set
up an unlikely conference finals matchup with Kansas City, which
had also finished 40-42.
The Kings, led by Otis Birdsong, Scott Wedman, and Phil Ford,
proved to be little competition for Malone and the rest of the
Houston squad. The Rockets triumphed in five games to earn their
first trip to the NBA Finals. In fact, 1981 marked the first time a
team from Houston played for a championship in basketball,
football, or baseball.
Boston represented the stronger Eastern Conference, which had
three teams with 60-win seasons (Philadelphia and the Milwaukee
Bucks filled out the trio). The Celtics, with Larry Bird, Robert
Parish, Cedric Maxwell, and Kevin McHale, were expected to rout the
Rockets, although Malone brashly said he could take four guys from
his hometown and win the series. Malone and the experts were both
wrong. The Celtics won, but Del Harris's squad put up quite a fight
before bowing out in six games.
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1981-82: Malone Cops Second MVP Award
The 1981-82 season was another banner campaign for
Malone, who averaged 31.1 points (second in the NBA behind George
Gervin) and a league-leading 14.7 rebounds en route to his second
MVP Award. He was joined on the blocks by Elvin Hayes, who had
returned to the Rockets to play his final three seasons. The rest
of the team was in transition. Rudy Tomjanovich had retired and
moved into a scouting position, Calvin Murphy was on the bench, and
Tom Henderson, Allen Leavell, Mike Dunleavy, and others shared the
guard spots.
Houston compiled a 46-36 record and tied the Denver Nuggets for
second place in the Midwest Division behind San Antonio. But unlike
the previous season, the Rockets sputtered in the playoffs, losing
a best-of-three first-round series to the Seattle SuperSonics.
Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers blew undefeated through the
early rounds of the playoffs and trounced Philadelphia, four games
to two, in the NBA Finals. The Sixers were hampered in the series
by the lack of a consistent center to battle the Lakers' Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, so they went out and got one for 1982-83.
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1982-83: Basketball's $13.2 Million Man
Malone had become a free agent after the 1981-82
season, and the Sixers made him a contract offer of $13.2 million,
an astronomical figure at the time. Houston exercised its right of
first refusal and matched the offer, then used the leverage to
trade Malone to Philadelphia in exchange for Caldwell Jones and a
first-round draft choice.
Malone's departure took the heart and soul out of the Rockets,
who struggled through the next two seasons. They plummeted to a
league-worst 14-68 mark in 1982-83, and no player averaged more
than 15 points per game. Meanwhile, Philadelphia and Malone romped
to the NBA title, sweeping the Lakers in the 1983 NBA Finals.
Despite having to relocate, Malone won his second consecutive MVP
Award.
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1983-85: How Do You Stop Two 7-Footers?
The good thing about bad seasons is that they generally
yield high draft choices. That certainly held true for the Rockets,
who would pick first in both the 1983 and 1984 drafts. Houston
wielded its picks well, selecting 7-4 Ralph Sampson in 1983 and the
next year opting for 7-foot Akeem (now Hakeem) Olajuwon to assemble
the tallest frontcourt the league had ever known.
Sampson, a three-time Naismith Award winner at the University of
Virginia, possessed enough size and grace to be called the next
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Along with new coach Bill Fitch, the giant
rookie helped the Rockets to a 15-game improvement in 1983-84 for a
29-53 overall record. Playing in all 82 games, Sampson averaged
21.0 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.40 blocks. At season's end he was
an easy choice for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
The NBA's biggest big men had been growing taller through the
years, from George Mikan (6-10) to Wilt Chamberlain (7-1) to Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar (7-2). But the league hadn't seen a double shot the
size of the one that Houston unleashed in 1984-85.
Olajuwon was less experienced than Sampson. He had led the
University of Houston's "Phi Slamma Jamma" squad to three Final
Four appearances, but the native of Nigeria had never played
basketball until 1978, two years before enrolling in college.
Houston selected Olajuwon after winning a coin toss with the
Portland Trail Blazers, which chose Sam Bowie, leaving Chicago to
take a guard named Michael Jordan.
Sampson (22.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg) and Olajuwon (20.6 ppg, 11.9 rpg)
found enough room in the paint during their first year together to
become the first teammates since Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor in
1970 to each average 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds per game.
Olajuwon finished second to Jordan in the balloting for the NBA
Rookie of the Year Award.
The squad and its so-called "Twin Towers" amassed a 48-34 record
in 1984-85 for a second-place finish in the Midwest Division. The
Rockets returned to the playoffs but were bounced in the first
round by the Utah Jazz.
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1985-86: "Twin Towers" Lead Rockets Back To Finals
For the 1985-86 season Olajuwon and Sampson were joined
by a complement of capable players: Rodney McCray, Lewis Lloyd, Jim
Petersen, Mitchell Wiggins, John Lucas, Allen Leavell, and Robert
Reid. The team rolled to a 51-31 record and won the Midwest
Division.
The Rockets entered the playoffs without their top point guards.
Lucas had been suspended by the league after failing a drug test in
March, and Leavell was shelved with an injury. With Sampson and
Olajuwon on the court, however, guard play at times was irrelevant.
The Rockets swept the Sacramento Kings in the first round; got by
Denver, four games to two, in the conference semifinals; and upset
defending NBA-champion Los Angeles, four games to one, in the
conference finals. Sampson hit an awkward turnaround jumper to beat
the Lakers in Game 5 and send his team to the NBA Finals against
Boston.
The Celtics were Larry Bird's team. His r?sum? for the year
included his third consecutive MVP Award and a top 10 finish in
five statistical categories, with 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and
2.02 steals per game; an .896 free-throw percentage; and a .423
three-point field-goal percentage. Bird had also led the Celtics
with 6.8 assists per game. Boston had tallied a 67-15 record that
season for a remarkable winning percentage of .817.
In the Finals, Boston had too much firepower, too much depth,
and too much Bird. The Celtics won the first two games at Boston
Garden, and in the next three contests at the Summit, the Rockets
managed to win only twice. Boston took the title in Game 6 at the
Garden.
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1986-88: Changing Of The Guard
The 1985-86 Rockets team would rank among the best in
franchise history, although it quickly self-destructed. In an
18-month span following the 1986 NBA Finals, Houston's top three
guards-Lucas, Lloyd, and Wiggins-were all lost to substance-abuse
problems, ending the Rockets' hopes for another shot at a title.
The Rockets compiled a 42-40 record in 1986-87, good for third
place in the Midwest Division. They went quietly in the playoffs,
advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals before losing to
Seattle in six games. Olajuwon, meanwhile, was developing into a
center of the highest order. While Sampson played only 43 games
because of injuries, Olajuwon became the team's leader on both ends
of the court. He averaged 23.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 3.39
blocks and earned the first of three consecutive berths on the
All-NBA First Team.
As the 1987-88 season got underway, discord between Sampson and
Coach Bill Fitch led to an early-season trade that sent Sampson and guard Steve Harris to
Golden State for guard Eric "Sleepy" Floyd and center Joe Barry
Carroll. (The trade marked the first time that two No. 1 draft
choices had been swapped for each other.) Fitch said the trade
would make the team better than the 1986 NBA Finals squad. In
reality, Houston finished 46-36 and fourth in a tough Midwest
Division-and Fitch was replaced by Don Chaney after the season. The
Dallas Mavericks, who would later come within a game of the Finals,
ousted Houston in a best-of-five series, three games to one.
In the fall of 1988 the Rockets began shuffling players to
restock the roster. They sent Carroll and Lester Conner to the New
Jersey Nets for Tim McCormick and Frank Johnson and packaged Rodney
McCray and Jim Petersen to Sacramento for Otis Thorpe. The Thorpe
trade would pay quick dividends.
A 6-10 power forward from Providence with hands as big as frying
pans, Thorpe provided some help for Olajuwon inside and would
consistently rank among the league leaders in both field-goal
percentage and dunks. From 1987 to 1993 Thorpe registered 878
dunks, second only to Charles Barkley during that period.
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1988-90: Rockets Set A New Trend-Quick Playoff Exits
The 1988-89 Rockets, with a starting lineup of
Olajuwon, Thorpe, Floyd, Mike Woodson, and Buck Johnson, compiled a
45-37 record, second best in the Midwest Division. But Seattle
scorched them, three games to one, in the first round of the 1989
NBA Playoffs. Olajuwon made the All-NBA First Team for the third
straight season, led the league in rebounding (13.5 rpg), and
became the first player since the NBA began keeping such records to
collect more than 200 steals and more than 200 blocks in the same
season.
The Rockets fielded a squad in 1989-90 that was similar to that
of the previous season's. Mitchell Wiggins returned to contribute
15.5 points per game, third on the team behind Olajuwon (24.3 ppg)
and Thorpe (17.1). Fiery guard Vernon Maxwell was obtained from San
Antonio, and John Lucas signed with the club for the fourth
time.
The Rockets hovered around .500 until a slump in December
dropped them to 12-18 on December 30. But the new year brought
winning ways, and the Rockets stood at 19-20 after a 116-104
victory over Denver on January 22. They struggled to break even
throughout the rest of season and needed a victory in their last
game to finish at 41-41 and in fifth place in the Midwest Division.
Houston then made a quick exit from the playoffs, losing to the Los
Angeles Lakers in a best-of-five first-round series.
Olajuwon, Thorpe, Wiggins, and Johnson were the club's top
scorers. Larry Smith added 6.1 rebounds per game off the bench.
Lewis Lloyd, an explosive guard and an integral part of Houston's
run to the Finals in 1986, was on the court for 19 games but wasn't
the player he once was. He wouldn't return for the following
season.
Although Floyd (7.3 apg) and Lucas (4.9) still had some life,
the Rockets wanted youth at the point guard position. Prior to the
1990-91 season they traded Tim McCormick and Lucas to Atlanta for
Kenny Smith and Roy Marble. Smith, a native of Queens, New York,
had been a high-profile collegian at the University of North
Carolina. He finished his career as the Tar Heels' all-time assists
leader and took the team to undefeated records in the Atlantic
Coast Conference in both 1984 and 1987. Sacramento had selected him
sixth in the 1987 NBA Draft, then traded him to Atlanta midway
through the 1989-90 campaign.
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1990-92: Houston Struggles Without Hakeem
Kenny Smith was part of a new mix that brought Houston
11 additional wins in 1990-91. With a lineup of Hakeem Olajuwon,
Kenny Smith (17.7 ppg), Otis Thorpe (17.5), Vernon Maxwell (17.0),
and Buck Johnson (13.6), the Rockets had a solid starting five.
Olajuwon, however, missed 26 games because of injuries, the most
disturbing of which was a fractured eye socket courtesy of a Bill
Cartwright elbow on January 3. The injury kept Olajuwon out until
February 28 and broke a string of six consecutive All-Star
appearances. He finished the year leading the league with a 3.95
blocked shots per game but didn't play enough games to qualify for
his third straight rebounding title.
The Rockets were 17-13 before their center's injury, 15-10
without Olajuwon, and then 20-7 with him back in the lineup, to
finish at 52-30 and in third place in the Midwest Division behind
Utah and San Antonio. Despite the strong finish, the Rockets ran
into the Finals-bound Lakers in a first-round playoff series and
were swept in three straight. For the team's efforts, Don Chaney
won recognition as NBA Coach of the Year.
Houston stayed with the same lineup in 1991-92 and jumped to an
8-2 start. But by February 21 the Rockets were 27-27, and by
season's end they were 42-40 and in third place in the Midwest
Division. On February 18 Chaney was relieved of his coaching
duties. Assistant Coach Rudy Tomjanovich was named interim head
coach, and the Rockets shot out to an 11-4 record. But disputes
between Olajuwon and the Rockets' management proved to be a
distraction in the final months of the season, and Houston
staggered to a 5-10 finish, missing the playoffs by losing three
straight to end the year.
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1992-93: "Rudy T" Sees Season End In OT
The Rockets opened the 1992-93 season with a pair of
games in Japan against the Seattle SuperSonics. Although Houston
lost both contests, the trip was extremely fruitful; Olajuwon
ironed out his differences with team management on the flight to
Japan, removing a distraction that had hampered the Rockets
throughout the preseason.
Tomjanovich had been elevated from interim head coach to
permanent head coach for 1992-93, and he began to mold the Rockets
into a strong defensive unit. After returning from Japan, Houston
won six straight to climb atop the Midwest Division standings.
Robert Horry, a 6-10 rookie from Alabama, filled a void at the
starting small forward spot. In addition, Tomjanovich employed an
unlikely bunch of substitutes: power forward Carl Herrera, who was
born in Trinidad and played high school basketball in Venezuela;
Matt Bullard, a 6-10 forward who was a .374 three-point shooter;
and Scott Brooks, a 5-11 point guard from UC-Irvine.
The main reason the team coalesced, however, was because of
Olajuwon's play. He had a tremendous season, winning the NBA
Defensive Player of the Year Award, finishing second to Charles
Barkley for MVP honors, and earning selection to the All-NBA First
Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He led the league in
blocked shots (4.17 per game), was fourth in rebounding (13.0 rpg),
and ranked 13th in field-goal percentage (.529) and steals
(150).
In addition to being an unequaled defensive player, Olajuwon
developed into an unstoppable force on offense. Employing an
extensive repertoire of moves, he averaged a career-best 26.1
points, fourth best in the NBA. In a time of great centers in the
league (David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O'Neal, and Alonzo
Mourning were among his contemporaries), Olajuwon was in many minds
the best post player in the business.
The Rockets were buried in third place at the All-Star break but
soared in the second half to win the Midwest Division with a 55-27
record. In late February and early March they put together an NBA
season-best 15 straight wins (only 12 teams in history have won as
many games in a row), then shot past San Antonio to take the
division title.
In the playoffs the Rockets edged the Los Angeles Clippers in a
five-game first-round series, but they finished the season as they
had started it-by losing to Seattle. At the conclusion of an
exhausting seven-game Western Conference Semifinal series, the
Rockets fell to the Sonics in overtime in Game 7. In a series where
the home team won all seven games, the Sonics, who were also 55-27
during the regular season, held the home-court advantage due to
their early-season wins over the Rockets.
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1993-94: Rockets Shoot To NBA Title
The Rockets reached the pinnacle in 1993-94, winning
the NBA Championship on the strength of excellent team chemistry
and a man named Hakeem Olajuwon. With Michael Jordan out of the
NBA, Olajuwon was widely considered the best player in the league,
winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and the NBA Defensive
Player of the Year Award. His averages per game included 27.3
points (third in the league), 11.9 rebounds (fourth), and 3.71
blocked shots (second).
Olajuwon anchored a strong interior defense that set a franchise
record for fewest points allowed in a season, and he opened up an
offense that set NBA records for three-point field goals made and
attempted. Under the direction of Rudy Tomjanovich, the Rockets
tied an NBA record with 15 straight victories to open the season,
won 22 of their first 24, and captured the Midwest Division title
at 58-24.
In the playoffs Houston had little trouble with the Portland
Trail Blazers in the first round but barely escaped a battle with
Phoenix in the conference semifinals. The Suns stunned the Rockets
by winning the first two games in Houston, but Tomjanovich rallied
his troops to take the series, four games to three. The Rockets
then thumped the Utah Jazz in the conference finals to advance to
the championship series for the first time since 1986.
The 1994 NBA Finals matched Olajuwon against the New York
Knicks' Patrick Ewing. The series was a defensive grind, with
neither team scoring 100 points in a game. Yet it was close; no
game's margin of victory exceeded 10 points. In the end, Houston
had just enough firepower to prevail. Behind strong performances
from Vernon Maxwell and rookie Sam Cassell, the Rockets won Game 7,
90-84, to secure the first-ever championship for a sports team from
Houston. Olajuwon added another trophy to his mantle when he took
home the NBA Finals MVP Award.
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1994-95: "Clutch City" - Rockets Repeat
After winning their first-ever NBA Championship in
1993-94, the Houston Rockets enjoyed a 1994-95 season that was in
many ways even more remarkable than the previous year's campaign.
The Rockets won their second consecutive NBA title, joining the
Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, and Minneapolis/Los
Angeles Lakers as the only back-to-back champions in league
history. The Rockets' playoff run was among the most memorable in
NBA annals. The team entered the postseason seeded only sixth in
the Western Conference but went on to become the lowest seed ever
to win a title, as well as the first team in NBA playoff history to
eliminate four teams that had each won 50 or more regular-season
games.
Unlike the previous year, when Houston won the Midwest Division
and was considered one of the favorites for the crown, the 1994-95
Rockets struggled through much of the regular season and finished
at 47-35. Forward Otis Thorpe, who had been such a valuable inside
force in 1993-94, was unexpectedly traded to the Portland Trail
Blazers for guard Clyde Drexler and forward Tracy Murray on
February 14. Injuries to Carl Herrera, who was expected to step
into Thorpe's spot, forced him to miss most of the season's second
half, including the playoffs. As if that weren't enough, guard
Vernon Maxwell became frustrated with playing a backup role to
Drexler and took a leave of absence. All of this meant that the
Rockets entered the playoffs missing three of their top seven
players from the defending champions, and the club seemed
especially vulnerable at power forward. Meanwhile, three players
who were not even in the league when the season began-Chucky Brown,
Charles Jones, and Pete Chilcutt-were signed and given vital roles
in the late stretches.
The team's late-season troubles provided fuel for critics of the
Thorpe-Drexler deal, but Drexler would have none of it. The trade
reunited him with Hakeem Olajuwon, his former teammate at the
University of Houston, and returned him to his hometown. It also
gave the team two superstars who, as it turned out, didn't allow
the Rockets to lose the crucial games.
Houston's playoff run was the stuff of legend. In the first
round the Rockets knocked off the third-seeded Utah Jazz, who had
won 60 games during the regular season. Houston then fell behind
the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals before
rallying for three straight victories to win the series, taking
Game 7 in Phoenix. In the conference finals, the Rockets went up
against the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs, who had posted the NBA's
best regular-season record at 62-20 and boasted league MVP David
Robinson. Olajuwon got the better of Robinson in the all-Texas
series as Houston prevailed in six games.
The NBA Finals featured Olajuwon and the Rockets against
Shaquille O'Neal and the 57-25 Orlando Magic. Olajuwon and O'Neal
battled to a virtual draw, but the rest of the Rockets had a
superior series as Houston swept the Magic in four games. Kenny
Smith set an NBA Finals record with 7 three-pointers in the Game 1
overtime win, and Smith's backup, Sam Cassell, poured in 31 points
in Game 2. Robert Horry continued to drill clutch shots, and Mario
Elie, who had been moved into a starting role for the series, made
good on 8 of 14 three-point attempts against the Magic. Drexler
averaged 20.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the
postseason. Olajuwon, who picked up his second NBA Finals MVP Award
and more momentum on his march to the Hall of Fame, averaged 33.0
points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.85 blocks in the playoffs.
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1995-96: Bid For Three Swept Away
Entering the 1995-96 season after two straight
championships, the Rockets knew better than to be disappointed in a
48-win regular season. After all, 48 wins was one more than they
had achieved en route to their second title in 1995.
Houston's 48-34 record marked the 12th consecutive year that the
team had achieved a record of .500 or better. It should surprise no
one that the streak coincides with the arrival of Olajuwon, who
would end the season ranked second in scoring (26.9 ppg), fourth in
blocks (2.88 bpg) and sixth in rebounding (10.9 rpg). In February,
he was select to participate in the All-Star Game for the 12th
straight season, joining Drexler.
Before the season would end, Olajuwon would become the league's
all-time shotblocker, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He also became
only the ninth NBA player to amass more than 20,000 points and
10,000 rebounds in his career.
As coach Rudy Tomjanovich became the all-time winningest coach
in Rockets history, Olauwon, Drexler, Sam Cassell, Robert Horry and
a cast of relative unknowns survived an injury-riddled regular
season. In the first round, they fought off Magic Johnson and the
Lakers before coming up against the one riddle they historically
couldn't solve - the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Sonics, with their seventh game win over the Rockets in
1993, entered the series as the last team to eliminate the Rockets
from the playoffs. They had previously knocked out the Rockets in
1982 and in 1987. The recent regular season series history was even
less favorable for Houston. The Sonics entered the series with nine
straight wins over the Rockets.
True to form, the Sonics came out ahead of the Rockets, but not
before Houston once again showed the heart of a champion. Trailing
three games to none and facing a 20-point fourth quarter deficit in
game four, it looked like the Rockets were buried. But, sparked by
five Robert Horry three-pointers, the Rockets forced overtime.
Although Seattle ultimately prevailed, the Rockets showed the
character that made them NBA champions.
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1996-97: Barkley Rockets Fly High
Already boasting two of the game's finest players in
Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, the Houston Rockets entered the
1997 season with a new weapon, forward Charles Barkley, acquired in
an offseason trade with the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Sam
Cassell, Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant and Robert Horry.
Barkley, Olajuwon and Drexler were each named among the 50
Greatest Players in NBA History prior to the season. They spent the
season backing it up, leading the Rockets to a 57-25 record and a
trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Barkley averaged 19.2 points and 13.5 rebounds and injected some
fresh life into the Rockets. In his very first game as a Rocket,
Barkley collected an NBA season-high 33 rebounds against his former
team, the Phoenix Suns. Olajuwon was his splendid self, finishing
seventh in the league in scoring (23.2 ppg), 17th in rebounding
(9.2 rpg) and eighth in blocks (2.22 bpg). Drexler enjoyed another
solid all-around season, with 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.7
assists per game. On November 24, Drexler surpassed the
20,000-point barrier, joining Olajuwon and Barkley in that
exclusive club.
In all, the Rockets set or tied 32 franchise records and amassed
a franchise-best 27 road wins en route to posting their 13th
consecutive non-losing season. And they achieved these goals
without relying entirely on "The Big Three."
Rookie Matt Maloney, the only NBA first-year player to start all
82 games, successfully manned the point. Unheralded Mario Elie
finished among the league leaders in three-point percentage (.420)
and provided tenacity on defense. Free agent signees Kevin Willis,
Sedale Threatt and Eddie Johnson provided depth and experience off
the bench.
That depth helped carry the Rockets far in the playoffs. Houston
swept Minnesota in the First Round and then survived a seven-game
battle with the Seattle SuperSonics, earning the right to play Utah
in the Conference Finals. After the Jazz won the first two games,
it was Johnson who provided the heroics for Houston with 31 points
off the bench to win Game 3, and a buzzer-beating three-pointer in
Game 4 to even the series at 2-2. The Jazz, however, took the next
two games to deny the Rockets a chance at their third title of the
'90s.
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1997-98: High on Heart
A year later, the 1997-98 Houston Rockets again had
plenty of heart, they just didn't have enough luck to make one last
championship run in Clyde Drexler's final NBA season.
The Rockets, beset by injuries all season long, earned their
sixth straight postseason berth under Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich
-- who won his 300th NBA game on Jan. 24 -- but their 41-41 regular
season record matched the team's lowest win total in 14
seasons.
Nevertheless, they entered the playoffs with three future Hall
of Famers in Drexler, Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon -- a trio
with 386 games of postseason experiences to counter the precision
of the top-seeded and heavily-favored Utah Jazz.
In the unfriendly confines of Utah's Delta Center, Houston
cruised to an easy 103-90 win in Game 1, which came as a surprise
to nearly every NBA follower, with the notable exception of
Tomjanovich.
No player responded better than Drexler, a 15-year veteran in
the midst of his final playoff run. Drexler, who led the Rockets
with 22 points in the Game 1 win, announced on March 18 that he
would retire at the end of the season to become the head coach at
the University of Houston, his alma mater.
Charles Barkley, like Drexler, approached the 1998 postseason as
if it were his last. Barkley chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds in
Houston's Game 1 win, despite playing with a hernia that had him
questionable to play at all.
After Utah tied the series with a 105-90 win in Game 2, the
series returned to Houston, where Olajuwon and the Rockets proved
that their win in Utah was no fluke. Houston posted a 89-85 win,
fueled by a team-high 28 points and 12 rebounds from Olajuwon that
put Utah on the brink of elimination and put the Rockets only one
game away from becoming the second eighth-seeded NBA team ever to
beat a top-seeded team.
For one half, that possibility looked extremely likely. Playing
in front of the home crowd at the Compaq Center, Houston held Utah
to only 10 first-quarter points and took a 42-36 lead into
halftime. Bad luck got the better of big heart when Barkley took an
elbow to his forearm, tearing a tricep muscle and ending his
season. Utah, meanwhile, outscored Houston 57-29 in the second half
to earn the 93-71 win and force a deciding game at the Delta
Center. Undermanned and on the road, Houston lost 84-70, ending
their championship aspirations.
As Drexler, who was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA
History in 1996, walked off the floor following the loss, the Delta
Center crowd gave him a standing ovation.
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1998-99: Scottie Beams Aboard
In Game 3 of a first-round playoff series, Houston's
Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley hit the Lakers with an awesome
1-2 punch. Pippen tallied 37 points and 13 rebounds, and Barkley
added 30 points and 23 boards as the Rockets won 102-88.
But that would be Houston's only hurrah, as Los Angeles closed
out the series in four games.
After acquiring Pippen from Chicago in a sign-and-trade deal,
the Rockets featured a front line with three future Hall of Famers:
Hakeem Olajuwon, Barkley and Pippen. The trio led Houston to a
31-19 record.
Olajuwon averaged 18.9 points and 9.6 boards to earn All-NBA
Third Team honors. Barkley finished second in the league with 12.3
rebounds per game, and Pippen was named to the All-Defensive First
Team for the eighth year in a row.
Rookie guards Michael Dickerson and Cuttino Mobley helped fill
the void left by Clyde Drexler's retirement. Dickerson started all
50 games at shooting guard and averaged 10.9 points. Mobley, who
got 37 starts at point guard, scored 9.9 points per game.
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