Houston Rockets | |||
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Conference | Western | ||
Division | Southwest | ||
Founded | 1967 | ||
History |
San Diego Rockets 1967–1971 Houston Rockets 1971–present |
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Arena | Toyota Center | ||
Location | Houston, Texas | ||
Team colors | Red, Silver, Black, White |
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General manager | Daryl Morey | ||
Head coach | Mike D'Antoni | ||
Ownership | Leslie Alexander | ||
Affiliation(s) | Rio Grande Valley Vipers | ||
Championships | 2 (1994, 1995) | ||
Conference titles | 4 (1981, 1986, 1994, 1995) | ||
Division titles | 5 (1977, 1986, 1993, 1994, 2015) | ||
Retired numbers | 7 (11, 22, 23, 24, 34, 45, CD) | ||
Website | www.rockets.com | ||
Uniforms | |||
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The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member club of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. The team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston.
The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets selected power forward Elvin Hayes first overall, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice and lead Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team. He also led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird and future Rockets coach Kevin McHale.