Portal:Houston/Music, Arts & Culture/January 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Rockets, along with the Seattle SuperSonics, entered the NBA in 1967 as an expansion team based in San Diego. They selected Pat Riley with their first draft pick in 1967. They went on to produce a then-NBA record 67-loss season.

In 1968 the Rockets won the coin toss versus the Baltimore Bullets, giving them the first overall pick in the 1968 NBA Draft. They selected Elvin "the Big E" Hayes from the University of Houston. Hayes led the team to the franchise's first ever playoff appearance in 1969. The Rockets lost in the Western divisional semi-final to the Atlanta Hawks two games to four in a best-of-seven series.

In 1971, real estate broker Wayne Duddleston and banker Billy Goldberg bought the franchise for $5.6 million and relocated the team from San Diego, where fans were more disposed to the Los Angeles Lakers than the Rockets. The Rockets originally had been named for San Diego slogan, "A City in Motion," but with the move to Houston their name took on even greater relevance. Houston is home to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, which received national attention during Project Apollo. Houston's major league baseball team, the Astros, were similarly named, and their stadium was the Astrodome, all with a futuristic theme. Furthermore, Houston's WNBA team would be named the Houston Comets, in part tribute and association with the Rockets. They would go on to win four straight championships.