📍 Houston, Texas
🏀 Home of the Houston Rockets

The origins of professional basketball in Houston begin in 1960’s San Diego. The expansion San Diego Rockets – whose moniker reflected Southern California’s ties to missile and rocket development – joined the NBA in ’67, but after poor performances and financial struggles, the franchise would be sold and relocated to Houston by 1971.

The label was arguably even more apropos in the Space City, serving as NASA’s human spaceflight hub and home to Mission Control, which made Houston the first city whose name was spoken on the moon. More than fifty years after man stepped foot on the lunar surface and the NBA arrived in town, the legacy of both space rockets and basketball’s Rockets continues to live on in Texas’ largest metropolis.

Upon getting to Houston, the Rockets hopped around the city – and state – playing at several different venues before settling in for a few seasons at the Fertitta Center on the campus of the University of Houston. They then played at The Summit in southwest Houston from 1975 until the 2003 opening of the state-of-the-art Toyota Center in downtown.

Seating more than 18,000, the Toyota Center is a uniquely-designed multi-purpose venue that features open concourses on both ends of the floor, allowing unobstructed views of the court from standing room areas, concession lines and hangout spaces. The sleek, white-washed designed of the arena’s interior also adds to the uncommon, contemporary feel that truly elevates the venue above many of its NBA peers.

While the team’s early years in Houston were less than stellar, everything changed with the addition of Hakeem Olajuwon to the lineup in 1984. Nicknamed “The Dream”, Olajuwon would lead the Rockets to their first-ever NBA title in 1994, defeating the New York Knicks in 7 games and earning the squad the nickname of “Clutch City”. The following year, they repeated as champions after a Finals sweep of the Orlando Magic.

Even after Olajuwon’s departure in the early 2000s, the Rockets have continued to be a force in the league, with stars like Yao Ming, Chris Paul and franchise player James Harden all donning the iconic red and white uniforms. And with the Rockets entering another new era, both current legends and new talent alike will certainly bring the team back into playoff contention.