The original name of the Rockets had been chosen because of the slogan of San Diego which was “A City In Motion”. But when they moved to, the name was retained because of its relevance. The Mission Control and Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center are located in Houston.

The Rockets started off their stint in Texas by playing in many arenas. Some of these were the Astrodome, Hofheinz Pavilion and AstroHall. Their first year saw few supporters, as the city was filled with more baseball and football fans. Finally in 1975, the Rockets moved to their home arena, The Summit where they would play for the next twenty eight years. The same year, they made the playoffs for the first time in Houston. Under Coach Johnny Egan they defeated the New York Knicks in the first round. They lost in the Conference Semi-finals to the Boston Celtics.

The Punch

In a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in December 1977, Kevin Kunnert of the Rockets and Kermit Washington of the Lakers got into a fight. Rockets player Rudy Tomjanovich approached them and unfortunately came in the way of a punch by Washington which caused severe damage to his skull. This event was documented by John Feinstein in his book called “The Punch”. Tomjanovich was in rehabilitation for five months and was lucky enough to be back in the arena for the All-Star Game in 1978.

NBA Champions

Tomjanovich eventually joined the Rockets as their Head Coach in 1992. The team was taken over by new owner Leslie Alexander in 1993. The same season, under coach Tomjanovich, the team went on to defeat the New York Knicks to win the NBA Championship for the first time. In 1995, the Rockets reached the NBA Finals again with players like Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon in the team. They defeated the Orlando Magic to win their second NBA Championship in a row.

The next few years, Rockets players were plagued with injuries and even though they made the playoffs quite often, they were not able to make it through to the Finals. This year, the Rockets have hired a new Head Coach, Rick Adelman for the 2007-08 season. He is the team’s eleventh coach.

The Rockets have retired a few jersey numbers. These include Hakeem Olajuwon 34, Clyde Drexler 22, Rudy Tomjanovich 45 and Moses Malone 24.