Dunks, drugs, and disappointment: an oral history of the 1980s Houston Rockets. By Jonathan Abrams. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8600657/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets
It says a lot about the commissioner's reputation right now that I read this: And I can totally believe that Stern, who freely admits that the NBA depended on the Bird/Magic rivalry in order to survive, tore down the Rockets to keep the Lakers in the finals, and to appease other owners who were still bitter that the Rockets tanked their way to the twin towers. Spoiler You don't mess with Mr. McStern
Excellent article. 85-86 was the 1st year I truly became a Rockets fan. I watched the team before, but I was pretty young and wasn't as interested. I was more of an Oiler fan before that. Been a fan ever since.
This quote is hysterical. Referee Jess Kersey: Somebody punched me in the head and I yelled up, "I don't know which one of you just punched me in the head, but if I find out, you're going to be ejected." With that, Bill Fitch said to me, "Jess, I know who punched you." Of course in the heat of the moment, I look at Bill and say, "Who was it?" He said, "It was Kareem and Magic."
favorites: Imagine today's Oklahoma City Thunder never fulfilling their potential, getting sidetracked by injuries and drugs, wiping their roster clean, then winning championships with an aged Kevin Durant nearly a decade later. That's how it played out for the "Twin Towers." John Lucas (guard, Rockets): Bill Fitch saved my life. He was the one coach that told me that enough was enough.
Still an Akeem in those days. Hakeem would have faked him three times going to one shoulder, done a spin move, and then hit him with a fadeaway right hook.
Some of my favorites: Reid: The late, great Dennis Johnson, one time he brought the ball up to half court and I opened up the gate. He said, "Reid, what are you doing? You ain't going to play no defense?" I said, "Look down there. Do you feel lucky?" He cussed me out. Lewis Lloyd (guard, Rockets): Playing on defense, I used to let a lot of guys go down there. "Go ahead." I used to tell Hakeem and Ralph that, "If I let them go, block that to me and if y'all keep coming, I'll throw it back to you. If not, I'm slamming it myself."
This ought to be stickied. Seriously, every Rockets fan needs to read this and learn about the history here. What an excellent, excellent article. Props to Grantland and Jonathan Abrams for putting it together. Always knew Bill Simmons had a soft spot for the 86 Rockets (in his Book of Basketball, he has this team as one of the greatest what ifs). So glad to see all of these guys interviewed and the story fleshed out from so many perspectives.
It's dumb because it's not like Jordan's Bulls teams and Hakeem's Rockets teams never played each other. The Bulls always dreaded that Texas road trip that took them through the Summit. And they would typically lose to Houston, too. Hakeem would go off against Bill Cartwright and the Bulls' caucasian stiffs at center, and then Vernon Maxwell would get that crazy Vernon Maxwell look in his eye and would shut down Michael Jordan. This is a thing that would actually happen! Pretty frequently! The Rockets would win the season series! So the hurf durf about only getting the chips with no Jordan never made any sense. It was an argument made by people who didn't watch basketball. It's just a way of trying to diminish Hakeem. Dream can't be bothered to be at the absolute peak of his powers season upon season upon season while MJ serves out his informal gambling suspension whoops I mean decides he likes baseball better. Come on now.