#2010 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER PROFESSIONAL#
#2010 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER SERIES#

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. The sole bright spot of the inaugural season was forward Don Kojis, whose good numbers earned him a spot at the 1968 NBA All-Star Game. Attendance ranked as eighth among the league's twelve teams, leading to financial losses. The Rockets lost 67 games in their inaugural season, which was then an NBA record for losses in a season. The Rockets' inaugural game was held on Octoat the International Sports Center, with 8000 fans seeing the Rockets lose closely to the St. The team then built its roster with both veteran players at an expansion draft, and college players in the 1967 NBA draft, where San Diego's first ever draft pick was Pat Riley. Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon, then coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets' coach and general manager. The resulting contest to name the franchise chose the name 'Rockets', homaging 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 paid a $1.75 million entry fee to join the NBA as an expansion team for the 1967–68 NBA season, along with the Seattle SuperSonics. Combining the city economic and population growths with the Gulls' success, San Diego was chosen to receive an expansion team in 1967. The league wanted to add other franchises in the Western United States, by then only represented through the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Francisco Warriors, and the owners liked Breitbard's input during the meeting. Walter Kennedy visited San Diego in 1966 and saw the passionate support for the Western Hockey League's San Diego Gulls, he invited Robert Breitbard, owner of the Gulls and their arena, the San Diego International Sports Center, to the next NBA owners' meeting. Once National Basketball Association commissioner J. In the 2014–15 NBA season, led by head coach Kevin McHale and guard James Harden, the Rockets won their first division title in 21 years, and reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1997.ĭuring the Rockets' years in San Diego, they played in the San Diego Sports Arena.

#2010 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER SERIES#

The following season, the team managed to win a playoff series for the first time since 1997, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs and pushed the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the 2009 Western Conference Semifinals.ĭuring the next decade, the Rockets rehauled their roster and were again contenders for the NBA title.

In the 2007–08 NBA season, the Rockets had their most successful campaign in the 2000s, winning 55 games, with 22 of those victories in a row, but still lost in the first round. However, they would not advance past the first round of the playoffs for 13 years. They missed the playoffs from 1999 to 2003, and did not reach the playoffs again until they drafted Yao Ming in 2003. The Rockets repeated the feat in 1995, but have not appeared again in the NBA Finals since. They did not win their first championship until 1994, when Olajuwon led them to a franchise-best 58 wins, and the championship. In the next seven seasons, they lost in the first round of the playoffs five times. This gave Houston two straight first overall picks, used to bring future Hall of Famers Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon, who eventually got the Rockets all the way to the 1986 Finals, where they lost again to Boston. Two years after advancing to the finals, the Rockets traded Malone and had two losing seasons, with the first having a franchise-low 14 victories. He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981, but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics. Malone won two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards during his time in Houston, and he led the Rockets to the 1978 conference finals in his first year with the Rockets. After Hayes was traded, Moses Malone replaced him. After drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1968 NBA Draft, they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969.

In the Rockets' debut season, they won 15 games. The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before moving to Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

#2010 HOUSTON ROCKETS ROSTER PROFESSIONAL#

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas.

The Rockets moved into the Toyota Center at the start of the 2003–2004 season.

2010 houston rockets roster