About the Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets were originally based out of  San Diego California when they joined the NBA in 1967 as an expansion team along with the Seattle SuperSonics.  In it's first season, the Rockets set the record for the most losses ever by compiling a record of 15-67.  As a reward for their futility the Rockets drafted Elvin Hayes who led the league in scoring in his rookie year.  Hayes helped the Rockets get to the playoffs for the first time in team history in 1969, his rookie year. 

The franchises current name derives from the move to Houston in the 1971 season.  After winning over fans slowly but surely, the Houston Rockets finally became a playoff contender in 1975 behind the stellar play of Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich.  In another big time acquisition the Houston Rockets gambled on Moses Malone, the first player ever to skip college and head straight to the NBA from high school.  With their trio of stud players the Houston Rockets won their way to the NBA finals in 1977.

Malone Continued on his tear through the NBA, setting the precedent for todays high schoolers that skip college and go straight to the professional league.  With the Houston Rockets Malone won the MVP award in 1979, leading the league in rebounds and second in scoring.  The Houston Rockets again made it to the NBA Finals behind the play of Malone and the coaching of Del Harris in 1981 only to fall to the Boston Celtics.

The Houston Rockets traded Malone in 1983 and what followed was two sub-par seasons.  As a result of two consecutive bad years the Houston Rockets won the rights to high draft picks in each of those years, getting Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, nicknamed the "Two Towers".  In the 1985-86 season the two big men guided the Houston Rockets to an NBA finals appearance only to fall once again to the Boston Celtics.

The Late 1980's was a tough time for the Houston rockets.  A combination of injuries and trades left Olajuwon as the only viable star on a struggling team and they failed to make the playoffs for four consecutive years.  In the early 1990's the Houston Rockets turned their fortunes around, first with the hiring of a former star player as their head coach, Rudy Tomjanovich.  Tomjanovich instantly brought the team out of their slump by starting off the 1993 season with 15 consecutive wins.  Behind Olajuwon's NBA and Finals MVP trophy play the Rockets advanced to the NBA Finals that year and defeated the New York Knicks for the championship crown.

In the next season in the Houston rockets were also favorites to win it all, especially with Clyde Drexler, an off season acquisition from the Portland Trailblazers.  Behind the play of Olajuwon and Drexler the Rockets again made it to the NBA Finals and again won it all by sweeping the Magic in four games.  Once Olajuwon left the Houston Rockets, they couldn't make it back to the championship again.  The addition of Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkely helped the Houston Rockets remain a competitive team but they never made it to the Finals again.  Currently the Houston Rockets have two of the NBA's most exiting players in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, and should be playoff contenders for many years to come.