Houston Rockets

History

1967–1971: San Diego Rockets

The Rockets were founded in 1967 in San Diego by Robert Breitbard, who paid an entry fee of US$1.75 million to join the NBA as an expansion team for the 1967–68 season. The NBA wanted to add more teams in the Western United States and chose San Diego based on the city's strong economic and population growth, along with the local success of an ice hockey team owned by Breitbard, the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League. The San Diego International Sports Center, which opened the previous year and was also owned by Breitbard, would serve as home to the new franchise. A local contest to name the franchise chose the name "Rockets", as it paid homage to San Diego's theme of "a city in motion" and the local arm of General Dynamics developing the Atlas missile and booster rocket program.

Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon, then-coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets' coach and general manager. The team, which would join the league along with the Seattle SuperSonics, then built its roster with both veteran players at an expansion draft, and college players from the 1967 NBA draft, where San Diego's first ever draft pick was Pat Riley. In their first two games of the season, the Rockets were up against the St. Louis Hawks, and lost both of those games. Their first win in franchise history came the very next game which occurred three days after against the SuperSonics. The Rockets won on the road, 121–114. Johnny Green recorded 30 points and 25 rebounds for the Rockets. The following game, the SuperSonics held a 15-point lead for most of the first half, before the Rockets mounted a comeback to force overtime. The SuperSonics eventually pulled away and won the game, 117–110, though Art Williams recorded the first ever triple-double in franchise history, as he recorded 17 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for the Rockets. The expansion Rockets ultimately lost 67 games in their inaugural season, which was an NBA record for losses in a season at the time.

In 1968, after the Rockets won a coin toss against the Baltimore Bullets to determine who would have the first overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft, they selected Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston. Hayes improved the Rockets' record to 37 wins and 45 losses, enough for the franchise's first ever playoff appearance in 1969, but the Rockets lost in the semifinals of the Western Division to the Atlanta Hawks, four games to two. The Rockets limped to a 27–55 finish in the 1969–70 season, before missing the playoffs by just one game in the 1970–71 season.

1971–1976: Move to Houston and improvement with Murphy and Rudy-T

Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $5.6 million and moved the team to Houston before the start of the 1971–72 season. The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas, and the nickname "Rockets" took on even greater relevance after the move, given Houston's long connection to the space industry. Houston previously was awarded an NBA expansion franchise along with Buffalo, Cleveland and Portland on February 6, 1970, but the new entry folded six weeks later on March 20 when its investment group led by Alan Rothenberg failed to make the $750,000 down payment on the $3.7 million entrance fee required before the league's college player draft.

Before the start of the season, Hannum left for the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association – later renamed Denver Nuggets, who joined the NBA in 1976 – and Tex Winter was hired in his place. In the first six games of the 1971–72 season in Winter's first head coaching season, the Rockets all lost those games with an average of around 15 points per game. Their first win of the season came on October 26, 1971, with a 104–103 win over the home team, Detroit Pistons. Their second win of the season came five days later, a 102–87 win over the Buffalo Braves. After that game, the Rockets lost their next 8 games, against the Knicks, Trail Blazers, Bullets (twice), Warriors, Celtics, Bucks and Bulls. Their next win was on November 17 on the road against the 76ers. However, Winter's clashes with Hayes, due to a system that contrasted with the offensive style to which Hayes was accustomed, made Hayes ask for a trade, leaving for the Baltimore Bullets at the end of the 1971–72 season.

It was also around this time that the Rockets would unveil their classic yellow and red logo and accompanying uniforms used until the end of the 1994–95 season. Winter left soon after, being fired in January 1973 following a ten-game losing streak, and was replaced by Johnny Egan. Egan led the Rockets back to the playoffs in 1975, where the franchise also won their first round against the New York Knicks, subsequently losing to the veteran Boston Celtics in 5 games. At that time the Rockets gained popularity in Houston, selling out several home games during the regular season as the Rockets battled for a playoff spot and then selling out all of their home playoff games.

1976–1982: The Moses Malone era

In the 1975–76 season the Rockets finally had a permanent home in Houston as they moved into The Summit, which they would call home for the next 29 years. During the period, the franchise was owned by Kenneth Schnitzer, developer of the Greenway Plaza which included The Summit. After missing the 1976 playoffs, Tom Nissalke was hired as a coach, and pressed the team to add a play-making guard in college standout John Lucas and a rebounding center through Moses Malone, who he had coached in the ABA. The additions had an immediate impact, with the 1976–77 Rockets winning the Central Division and going all the way to the Eastern Conference finals, losing to the Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2. The following season had the team regressing to just 28 wins due to an injury to captain Tomjanovich, who got numerous facial fractures after being punched by Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers and wound up spending five months in rehabilitation. After trading Lucas to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Rick Barry, the Rockets returned to the playoffs in 1978–79, with "The Chairman Of The Boards" Moses Malone receiving the 1979 MVP Award, but the team was swept 2–0 by Atlanta in the first round. Nissalke was let go, and assistant Del Harris was promoted to head coach.

In 1979, George Maloof, a businessperson from Albuquerque, New Mexico, bought the Rockets for $9 million. He died the following year, and while the Maloof family expressed interest in selling the team, George's 24-year-old son Gavin took over the Rockets. A buyer was eventually found in 1982 as businessman Charlie Thomas and Sidney Shlenker purchased the franchise for $11 million; the Maloofs would later own the Sacramento Kings from 1998 to 2013. The Maloof period of ownership marked the first dominant period of the Rockets, highlighted by the team's first Western Conference Championship and NBA Finals appearance in 1981, their first year after being moved from the Eastern Conference. Prior to the 1980–81 season, the arrival of the Dallas Mavericks led to an NBA realignment that sent the Rockets back to the Western Conference. Houston qualified for the playoffs only in the final game of the season with a 40–42 record. The postseason had the Rockets beat the Lakers, in-state rivals San Antonio Spurs, and the equally underdog Kansas City Kings to become only the second team in NBA history (after the 1959 Minneapolis Lakers) to have advanced to the Finals after achieving a losing record in the regular season. In the NBA Finals facing Larry Bird's Boston Celtics, the Rockets blew a late lead in game 1 and won game 2 at the Boston Garden. However, afterwards the team failed to capitalize on the early success against the favored Celtics, and eventually lost in six games.

1984–2001: The Hakeem Olajuwon era

In his first season, Olajuwon finished second to Michael Jordan in NBA Rookie of the Year balloting, and the Rockets record improved by 19 games, good enough for a return to the playoffs as the third best team in the West, where they were upset by the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz. The duo of Olajuwon and Sampson earned much praise, and was nicknamed "Twin Towers". In the following season, Houston won the Midwest Division title with a 51–31 record. The subsequent playoffs had the Rockets sweeping the Sacramento Kings, having a hard-fought six-game series with Alex English's Denver Nuggets, and then facing defending champion Lakers, losing the first game but eventually managing to win the series – the only Western Playoffs defeat of the Showtime Lakers – to get to the franchise's second Finals appearance. The NBA Finals once again matched the Rockets up against the Celtics, a contrast to Houston's young front challenging the playoff-hardened Celtics front court of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The Celtics won the first two games in Boston, gave the Rockets their only home playoff defeat that season in game 4, and clinched the title as Bird scored a triple-double on game 6.

After the Finals, Boston coach K. C. Jones called the Rockets "the new monsters on the block" feeling they had a bright future. But the team had a poor start to the following season, followed by nearly a decade of underachievement and failure, amidst players getting injured or suspended for cocaine usage, and during the playoffs were defeated in the second round by the Seattle SuperSonics in six games, with the final game being a double-overtime classic that saw Olajuwon notching 49 points, 25 rebounds and 6 blocks in defeat. Early in the 1987–88 season, Sampson, who had signed a new contract, was traded to the Golden State Warriors, bringing the Twin Towers era to an end just 18 months after their Finals appearance. Sampson's once-promising career was shortened due to chronic knee injuries, which forced his retirement in 1991. Jones' prophecy of a Rockets dynasty never materialized until the early 1990s.

In the next five seasons, the Rockets either failed to qualify for the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round. The first elimination in 1988 led to Fitch's dismissal, with Don Chaney replacing him as head coach. Chaney, like Olajuwon, also played for the Houston Cougars under Guy Lewis, having played along Elvin Hayes in the late 1960s. Chaney had his best season during 1990–91, where he was named the Coach of the Year after leading the Rockets to a 52–30 record despite Olajuwon's absence due to injury for 25 games. Despite Olajuwon's usual strong numbers, the underwhelming roster could not be lifted out of mediocrity. However, the attempts to rebuild the team nucleus incorporated players that would later make an impact in the years to come, such as Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Sam Cassell and Otis Thorpe.

2002–2009: The "Ming Dynasty"

After Houston was awarded the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft, they selected Yao Ming, a 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) Chinese center. The Rockets missed the 2003 playoffs by one game, improving their record by 15 victories led by All-Star starters Steve Francis and Rookie Yao Ming.

The 2003–04 season marked the Rockets' arrival to a new arena, Toyota Center, a redesign of their uniforms and logo, and their first season without Rudy Tomjanovich, who resigned as head coach after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Led by former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets finished the regular season with a record of 45–37, earning their first playoff berth since 1999, again losing to the Lakers in the first round.

In the off-season, Houston saw major changes in the roster as the Rockets acquired Tracy McGrady in a seven-player deal with the Orlando Magic Including three time Rockets All-Star Steve Francis. McGrady and Yao Ming formed a well-regarded pair that helped the Rockets win 22 consecutive games in the 2007–08 season, which was at the time the third longest winning streak in NBA history. Still, the duo was plagued with injuries – of the 463 regular season games for which they were teammates, Yao missed 146 and McGrady 160 – and did not win any playoff series, despite gathering leads over the Dallas Mavericks in 2005 and the Jazz in 2007. Despite this, Yao was selected to carry his home country's Five-star Red Flag at the Summer Olympics opening ceremony held at home in 2008. After the 2007 elimination, Van Gundy was fired, and the Rockets hired Rick Adelman to replace him.

For the 2008–09 season, the Rockets signed forward Ron Artest. While McGrady wound up playing only half the games before enduring a season-ending microfracture surgery, the Rockets ended the season 53–29, enough for the Western Conference's fifth seed. During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers four games to two, winning their first playoff round since 1997. During the series, Dikembe Mutombo injured his knee, which forced him to retire after 18 seasons in the NBA. However, the second round against the Lakers had the Rockets losing 4–3 and Yao suffering yet another season-ending injury, this time a hairline fracture in his left foot.

2009–2012: Competitive rebuilding

During the 2009–10 season, the Rockets saw the departures of Artest in the off-season and McGrady, Joey Dorsey and Carl Landry during mid-season trades. Despite great play by Kevin Martin, who arrived from the Kings, and Aaron Brooks, who would eventually be chosen as the Most Improved Player of the season, the Rockets could not make it to the playoffs, finishing 42–40, third in the Southwest Division. At that time, the Rockets set an NBA record for best record by a team with no All-Stars. The Rockets would also finish ninth in the Western Conference for the following two seasons, with Yao Ming getting a season-ending injury seven games into the 2010–11 season and deciding to retire during the 2011 off-season. Said off-season, which saw the NBA going through a lockout, had Adelman dismissed, and general manager Daryl Morey deciding to start a revamp of the Rockets based on advanced statistical analytics (similar to sabermetrics in baseball) in player acquisitions and style of play. Kevin McHale was named head coach, and the roster saw significant changes.

2012–2021: The James Harden era

After the roster moves made by Morey during the 2012 NBA off-season, only four players were left from the 2011–12 Rockets roster: Chandler Parsons, Greg Smith, Marcus Morris, and Patrick Patterson, with the latter two leaving through trades during the 2012–13 season. The most important acquisition was reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, who Morey called a "foundational" player expected to be Houston's featured player after a supporting role in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden caused an immediate impact as part of the starting lineup for the Rockets, with 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block in the season opener against the Detroit Pistons, and an average of 25.9 points a game through the season. Combining Harden's performance and McHale's up-tempo offense, the Rockets became one of the highest-scoring offenses in the NBA, leading the league in scoring for the majority of the season. In the postseason, the Rockets fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, losing the series 4–2.

Eager to add another franchise player to their team, the Rockets heavily pursued and then acquired free agent center Dwight Howard in the 2013 off-season. He officially signed with the Rockets on July 13, 2013. Led by the new inside-out combination of Howard and James Harden, and with a strong supporting cast including Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin, and Ömer Aşık, the Rockets were expected to jump into title contention in the upcoming season. However, that postseason, the Rockets were defeated in the first round by the Portland Trail Blazers, losing the series 4–2. Still, in the 2014–15 season, without Lin and Parsons but reinforced by Trevor Ariza, the Rockets started the season well, winning the first four games of the season for the first time since 1996–97, and winning each of their first six games by 10 points or more, the first team to accomplish this feat since the 1985–86 Denver Nuggets. Though the Rockets had many key players miss time throughout the entire season, James Harden took it upon himself to keep the Rockets near the top of the conference, turning him into an MVP front-runner. He became the first Rocket to score 50 points in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon, as well as the only player in franchise history to record multiple 50 point games in a season. On April 15, 2015, the Rockets beat the Jazz to claim their first-ever Southwest Division title and first Division crown since 1994, and by completing 56 wins finished with the third-best regular season record in franchise history. During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Mavericks 4–1 in the first round, and overcame a 3–1 deficit against the Los Angeles Clippers to win the Western semifinals and return to the conference finals for the first time in 18 years. In the conference finals, the Rockets were defeated by the Golden State Warriors 4–1.

2021–present: Şengün era

In the 2021 NBA draft, the team selected Jalen Green with the second overall pick out of the NBA G League Ignite, pairing him alongside Kevin Porter Jr., who was acquired via trade the season prior for a top-55 protected second-round pick. Because of their additions in the draft, including first round selections of Alperen Şengün and Josh Christopher, the team began focusing on developing and rebuilding around their young core, which resulted in John Wall being benched for the entire season. In the 2021–22 season, the Rockets were once again at the bottom of the league, with a 20–62 record. Jalen Green was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with averages of 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

In the 2022 NBA draft, the Rockets selected Jabari Smith Jr. with third overall pick and Tari Eason with the 17th overall picks. The Rockets made some adjustments by sending forward Christian Wood to the Dallas Mavericks in an exchange for Boban Marjanović, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss and traded all of them to the Oklahoma City Thunder during the off-season to develop their young core while keeping Marjanović. The Rockets bought out John Wall's contract, who had been demanding a trade for a while and did not participate in the Rockets' 2021–22 season.

On February 9, 2023, the Rockets traded long-time veteran Eric Gordon to the Clippers in a three-team trade in exchange of Danny Green and John Wall and were later waived. The Rockets ended the 2022–23 regular season with a 22–60 record, tying with the San Antonio Spurs for last in the Western Conference. The Rockets fired head coach Stephen Silas after they chose not to pick up his fourth year option and replaced him with former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka.

One-time All-Star Fred VanVleet joined the Rockets via free agency signing a three-year, $130 million contract. The next day, former Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks joined the team signing a four-year, $86 million contract after a first-round exit against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets selected Amen Thompson with the fourth pick and Cam Whitmore with the 20th pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Şengün improved this season, averaging 21.1 points per game, 9.3 rebounds per game, and 5 assists per game. He was announced out for the season on March 21 with an ankle injury.

The Houston Rockets selected Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard with the third overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft. Building on momentum from last year, they had a breakout season, finishing 52–30 and securing the second seed in the Western Conference. The team specifically leaned on Şengün, who made his first All-Star Game appearance, and a breakout campaign from Amen Thompson. The Rockets made their first playoff appearance in five years, ultimately falling to the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game first-round series.

Season-by-season record

List of the last five seasons completed by the Rockets. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Houston Rockets seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage

Home arenas

During the four years the Rockets were in San Diego, they played their games in the San Diego Sports Arena, which had a seating capacity of 14,400. In their first season after moving to Houston, the Rockets did not have their own arena, and they played their first two years at various venues in the city, including the Astrodome, AstroHall, Sam Houston Coliseum and Hofheinz Pavilion, the latter eventually being adopted as their home arena until 1975. They also had to play "home" games in other cities such as San Antonio, Waco, Albuquerque, and even San Diego in efforts to extend the fan-base. During their first season, the Rockets averaged less than 5,000 fans per game (roughly half full), and in one game in Waco, there were only 759 fans in attendance.

Their first permanent arena in Houston was the 10,000 seat Hofheinz Pavilion on the campus of the University of Houston, which they moved into starting in their second season. They played in the arena for four years, before occupying The Summit in 1975. The arena, which could hold 16,611 spectators, was their home for the next 28 years. It was renamed the Compaq Center from 1998 to 2003. Following the 1994 title, the Rockets had a sellout streak of 176 consecutive home games, including the playoffs, which lasted until 1999. However, the struggling 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons saw Houston having the worst attendance average in the league, with less than 12,000 spectators each season.

For the 2003–04 season, the Rockets moved into their new arena, Toyota Center, with a seating capacity of 18,500. During the 2007–08 season where the team achieved a 22-game winning streak, the Rockets got their best numbers to date, averaging 17,379 spectators. These were exceeded once James Harden joined the team in 2012. The Rockets averaged 18,123 spectators during the 2013–14 season, selling out 39 out of the 41 home games. The 2014–15 season had even better numbers, with 40 sellouts and an average of 18,230 tickets sold.

Team identity

Uniforms and logos

When the Rockets debuted in San Diego, their colors were green and gold. Road uniforms featured the city name, while the home uniforms feature the team name, both in a serifed block lettering. This was the only uniform design the Rockets would use throughout their years in San Diego. The Rockets' first logo featured a rocket streaking with a basketball surrounded by the team name.

Upon moving to Houston in 1971, the Rockets replaced green with red. They kept the same design from their San Diego days, save for the change of color and city name. The logo used is of a player with a spinning basketball launching upward, with boosters on his back, leaving a trail of red and gold flames and the words "Houston Rockets" below it.

For the 1972–73 season, the Rockets introduced the famous "ketchup and mustard" logo, so dubbed by fans, featuring a gold basketball surrounded by two red trails, with "Houston" atop the first red trail and "Rockets" (all capitalized save for the lowercase 'E' and 'T') in black surrounding the basketball. The initial home uniforms, used until the 1975–76 season, features the city name, numbers and serifed player name in red with gold trim, while the away uniforms feature the city name (all capitalized except for the lower case 'T' and 'N'), numbers and serifed player name in gold with white trim.

In the 1976–77 season, the Rockets modified their uniforms, featuring a monotone look on the Cooper Black fonts and white lettering on the road uniforms. On the home shorts, the team logo is located on the right leg, while the away shorts feature the team name wordmark on the same location. With minor modifications in the number font, this version was used in all four of their NBA Finals appearances, including their 1994 and 1995 championships.

Following the 1995 title, the Rockets opted to modernize their look. After a fan contest with over 5,000 entries, the team went with the idea of Missouri City artist Thomas Nash of a rocket orbiting a basketball, which was then reworked by Houston designer Chris Hill. Nash would later sue the Rockets for breach of contract, given they were using his idea despite not having paid the contest prizes. The NBA suggested that the identity should follow the cartoon-inspired imagery that other teams adopted during the 1990s, leading to a rocket painted with sharkmouth nose art orbiting a basketball. Red was retained, but navy blue and silver became the uniform's primary colors. Both the home white and away navy uniforms featured gradient-fading pinstripes and futuristic number fonts, with side stripes of navy fading to red. This was used until the 2002–03 season.

Mascots

The mascot was introduced on March 14, 1995, formerly known as "Clutch" . From 1993 to 1995, the mascot was Turbo, a costumed man that performed acrobatic dunks and other maneuvers. In 1995, the Rockets debuted Clutch the Bear as a second mascot, a large teddy bear-like mascot that performs a variety of acts during the games. After eight years of serving as dual mascots, the performer playing Turbo retired, making Clutch the sole mascot for the team. The mascot was considered and voted fifth for the most recognizable mascot in the league, and was also inducted in the 2006 Mascot Hall of Fame.

Rivalries

The Rockets have developed many rivalries within the Western Conference ever since the team returned there in 1980. Two are intrastate rivalries, with the San Antonio Spurs, who moved along with the Rockets after four years with them in the Eastern Conference, and the Dallas Mavericks, introduced that very season. Houston has faced both Texas teams in the playoffs since 1980, beating the Spurs three times and losing once. The Rockets lost twice to the Mavericks, while beating them once.

Other famed rivalries were with the Los Angeles Lakers, who in the 1980s Showtime era only missed the NBA Finals when beaten by the Rockets, and the Utah Jazz, who in the 1990s the Rockets beat in both championship seasons but were defeated by Utah in five other occasions.

Honors and statistics

Franchise leaders

Bold denotes still active with team.

Italics denotes still active but not with team.

Points scored (regular season) (as of the end of the 2025–26 season)

Other Statistics (regular season) (as of the end of the 2025–26 season)

Personnel

Retained draft rights

The Rockets currently do not own the draft rights to unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA.

A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.

Retired numbers

1 Also served as head coach (1991–2003).

2 As Dawson did not play for the Rockets, the team used his initials.

The NBA retired Bill Russell's No. 6 for all its member teams on August 11, 2022.

Basketball Hall of Famers

Notes:

1 All three players were also inducted to the Hall of Fame as members of the 1992 Olympic team.

2 In total, Anthony and Howard were inducted into the Hall of Fame twice – as player and as a member of the 2008 Olympic team.

3 Tomjanovich also played for the Rockets from 1970 to 1981 and served as assistant coach from 1983 to 1992.

4 Adelman also played for the Rockets from 1968 to 1970.

5 In total, Newell was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice – as contributor and as a member of the 1960 Olympic team.

6 In total, D'Antoni was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice – as contributor and as a member of the 2008 Olympic team.

Head coaches

San Diego Rockets

Houston Rockets

Politics

On October 4, 2019, the Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet that supported the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, which drew criticism from the Rockets' owner Tilman Fertitta who said that while Morey was the best general manager in the NBA, the Rockets were not a political organization. Morey later deleted the tweet. Morey's tweet resulted in the Chinese Basketball Association's suspension of its relationship with the Rockets and the issuance of a statement of dissatisfaction from the consulate office of China in Houston. On October 6, Morey and the NBA each issued a separate statement addressing the original tweet; Morey said that he never intended his tweet to cause any offense, while the NBA said the tweet was "Regrettable". The statements drew attention and subsequent bipartisan criticism from several US politicians. Chinese media outlets, including the Chinese Communist Party-run People's Daily, described Morey and the NBA's statements as non-apologetic and unacceptable, because they did not contain the word "apologize".