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Houston Rockets Collectibles and Memorabilia
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There must be something about Texas that produces so much great basketball. The San Antonio Spurs won five NBA Championships between 1999 and 2014, the Dallas Mavericks took that prize in 2011, and the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in...
There must be something about Texas that produces so much great basketball. The San Antonio Spurs won five NBA Championships between 1999 and 2014, the Dallas Mavericks took that prize in 2011, and the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.
Of those teams, the path of the Houston Rockets has been the most circuitous. When the team entered the league in the 1967-68 season, it was based in San Diego and took its name from that city’s growing aerospace industry. It was an optimistic beginning, but that first Rockets team did the sports equivalent of blowing up on the launching pad as it amassed an embarrassing 15-67 record, the worst in the NBA that year. The silver lining, though, was getting first pick in the 1968 NBA draft, which the team used to acquire Elvin Hayes.
In a curious twist of fate, Hayes had been playing exceptional college ball for the University of Houston, and when he was drafted by the Rockets as the first pick in the NBA, he was also drafted by the Houston Mavericks as the first pick in the rival ABA. Hayes, though, would have to wait until 1971 to play again in Houston as a member of the newly relocated team. But Hayes lasted just one season in the city before being traded to Baltimore—he would return to Houston in 1981 to close out the final three years of his career there.
In Houston, the Rockets began their winning ways, achieving their first .500-plus season in 1974-75 and acquiring Moses Malone in 1976. With Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich (his uniforms read “Rudy-T”) as forwards and Calvin Murphy in the back court, the Rockets made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they lost to Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games.
The 1977-78 season is best remembered—or forgotten—by Rockets fans for the sucker punch to the face of Tomjanovich from Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers. The blow required five months of recovery, and although Tomjanovich would join fellow Rockets Malone and Murphy in the 1979 All Star Game, his play was never quite the same and he retired in 1981 at the age of 32.
For the Rockets, the late 1970s belonged to Moses Malone, who was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1979. In the 1980-81 season, Malone would lead the Rockets to their first NBA Finals, only to lose in 6 games to Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Even so, it was the first time a major sports franchise from Houston had ever qualified for a championship, which was a source of pride for the city.
Unfortunately, Houston could not build on this momentum. Malone won a second MVP after the 1981-82 season, before being traded to Philly, but the team never made it past the first round of the playoffs. During the 1982-83 season, things got really grim when Houston suffered through its worst record in franchise history, winning just 14 games and losing 68. But draft picks in 1983 and 1984 would bring the team Ralph Sampson, a 7-foot, 4-inch sensation from the University of Virginia, and another University of Houston player, Hakeem Olajuwon, who, at 7-feet tall, was just a shade shorter than Sampson. With its “Twin Towers” in place, Houston seemed poised to dominate the NBA, but Sampson was plagued by injuries, and the potential of Olajuwon would not be fully realized until the 1993-94 season, when the Rockets, now coached by Tomjanovich, finally won an NBA Championship, this time against the New York Knicks. Despite fine performances by Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Derek Harper, the Knicks were outgunned by Olajuwon, who was named the series’ MVP and averaged more than 26 points a game.
Olajuwon was even more formidable the following year when the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic to with their second NBA Championship, a rare back-to-back. Shaquille O’Neal of the Magic was a monster with 28 points per game, and his cause was helped by Penny Hardaway, who scored another 25.5, but Olajuwon averaged 32.8 in the rout, and Clyde Drexler of the Rockets was right behind him averaging 21.5. Olajuwon got his second Championship MVP award that year.
By the beginning of the new millennia, Olajuwon was asking to be traded, and the fortunes of the Rockets suffered, but a new player was about to turn Houston and the entire NBA upside down. His name was Yao Ming, a 7-foot, 6-inch center from China, who joined the team for its 2002-03 season. A trade in 2004 added Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo to the Rockets roster, and by the end of the 2004-05 season, the team was back to its winning ways, finishing the season at 51-31, only to get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks.
The latest chapter in the history of the Houston Rockets began in 2012, when the team signed James Harden. In 2017, the team's chemistry really seemed to come together when Chris Paul was added to the back court.
Continue readingThere must be something about Texas that produces so much great basketball. The San Antonio Spurs won five NBA Championships between 1999 and 2014, the Dallas Mavericks took that prize in 2011, and the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.
Of those teams, the path of the Houston Rockets has been the most circuitous. When the team entered the league in the 1967-68 season, it was based in San Diego and took its name from that city’s growing aerospace industry. It was an optimistic beginning, but that first Rockets team did the sports equivalent of blowing up on the launching pad as it amassed an embarrassing 15-67 record, the worst in the NBA that year. The silver lining, though, was getting first pick in the 1968 NBA draft, which the team used to acquire Elvin Hayes.
In a curious twist of fate, Hayes had been playing exceptional college ball for the University of Houston, and when he was drafted by the Rockets as the first pick in the NBA, he was also drafted by the Houston Mavericks as the first pick in the rival ABA. Hayes, though, would have to wait until 1971 to play again in Houston as a member of the newly relocated team. But Hayes lasted just one season in the city before being traded to Baltimore—he would return to Houston in 1981 to close out the final three years of his career there.
In Houston, the Rockets began their winning ways, achieving their first .500-plus season in 1974-75 and acquiring Moses Malone in 1976. With Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich (his uniforms read “Rudy-T”) as forwards and Calvin Murphy in the back court, the Rockets made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they lost to Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games.
The 1977-78 season is best remembered—or forgotten—by Rockets fans for the sucker punch to the face of Tomjanovich from Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers. The blow required five months of recovery, and although Tomjanovich would join fellow Rockets Malone...
There must be something about Texas that produces so much great basketball. The San Antonio Spurs won five NBA Championships between 1999 and 2014, the Dallas Mavericks took that prize in 2011, and the Houston Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.
Of those teams, the path of the Houston Rockets has been the most circuitous. When the team entered the league in the 1967-68 season, it was based in San Diego and took its name from that city’s growing aerospace industry. It was an optimistic beginning, but that first Rockets team did the sports equivalent of blowing up on the launching pad as it amassed an embarrassing 15-67 record, the worst in the NBA that year. The silver lining, though, was getting first pick in the 1968 NBA draft, which the team used to acquire Elvin Hayes.
In a curious twist of fate, Hayes had been playing exceptional college ball for the University of Houston, and when he was drafted by the Rockets as the first pick in the NBA, he was also drafted by the Houston Mavericks as the first pick in the rival ABA. Hayes, though, would have to wait until 1971 to play again in Houston as a member of the newly relocated team. But Hayes lasted just one season in the city before being traded to Baltimore—he would return to Houston in 1981 to close out the final three years of his career there.
In Houston, the Rockets began their winning ways, achieving their first .500-plus season in 1974-75 and acquiring Moses Malone in 1976. With Malone and Rudy Tomjanovich (his uniforms read “Rudy-T”) as forwards and Calvin Murphy in the back court, the Rockets made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, which they lost to Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers in 6 games.
The 1977-78 season is best remembered—or forgotten—by Rockets fans for the sucker punch to the face of Tomjanovich from Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers. The blow required five months of recovery, and although Tomjanovich would join fellow Rockets Malone and Murphy in the 1979 All Star Game, his play was never quite the same and he retired in 1981 at the age of 32.
For the Rockets, the late 1970s belonged to Moses Malone, who was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1979. In the 1980-81 season, Malone would lead the Rockets to their first NBA Finals, only to lose in 6 games to Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Even so, it was the first time a major sports franchise from Houston had ever qualified for a championship, which was a source of pride for the city.
Unfortunately, Houston could not build on this momentum. Malone won a second MVP after the 1981-82 season, before being traded to Philly, but the team never made it past the first round of the playoffs. During the 1982-83 season, things got really grim when Houston suffered through its worst record in franchise history, winning just 14 games and losing 68. But draft picks in 1983 and 1984 would bring the team Ralph Sampson, a 7-foot, 4-inch sensation from the University of Virginia, and another University of Houston player, Hakeem Olajuwon, who, at 7-feet tall, was just a shade shorter than Sampson. With its “Twin Towers” in place, Houston seemed poised to dominate the NBA, but Sampson was plagued by injuries, and the potential of Olajuwon would not be fully realized until the 1993-94 season, when the Rockets, now coached by Tomjanovich, finally won an NBA Championship, this time against the New York Knicks. Despite fine performances by Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Derek Harper, the Knicks were outgunned by Olajuwon, who was named the series’ MVP and averaged more than 26 points a game.
Olajuwon was even more formidable the following year when the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic to with their second NBA Championship, a rare back-to-back. Shaquille O’Neal of the Magic was a monster with 28 points per game, and his cause was helped by Penny Hardaway, who scored another 25.5, but Olajuwon averaged 32.8 in the rout, and Clyde Drexler of the Rockets was right behind him averaging 21.5. Olajuwon got his second Championship MVP award that year.
By the beginning of the new millennia, Olajuwon was asking to be traded, and the fortunes of the Rockets suffered, but a new player was about to turn Houston and the entire NBA upside down. His name was Yao Ming, a 7-foot, 6-inch center from China, who joined the team for its 2002-03 season. A trade in 2004 added Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo to the Rockets roster, and by the end of the 2004-05 season, the team was back to its winning ways, finishing the season at 51-31, only to get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks.
The latest chapter in the history of the Houston Rockets began in 2012, when the team signed James Harden. In 2017, the team's chemistry really seemed to come together when Chris Paul was added to the back court.
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