I was working in a warehouse in Jersey City New Jersey. I had my WALKMAN listening to sports radio. When they announced the trade, my first thought was...bad trade. I liked OT and his toughness. But as the afternoon wore on, I thought about how great it would be if they repeated and made up for all those Phi Slamma Jamma choke jobs! The sports talk show was very divided. One said they had no chance to repeat. The other host said they didn't but now they did. Damn...seems like just yesterday. Shows you just how hard it is to win a ring sometimes. And shows you just how right theFreak was when he said we would not win another ring in the next 10 years. He said that in 2000. The best prediction of all time around here.
Robert Horry was defending power forwards when Chucky Brown got hurt unbelievable! this team was a fairytale
I was about 12 but I remember hearing about the trade and remember exactly when Clyde walked into the summit with Tracy Murry and the crowd when nuts. I remember that pretty vividly from my Parents bedroom.
Looking back at the names on that team -- we were way better than people have given us credit for being.
That trade was incredible. I remember how painful it was to watch Drexler not play in the 1st half of the game at Charlotte, because the trade was not finalized yet. Then the trade became official at halftime and Clyde came into the game.
That trade not only keyed the 2nd championship, but I was convinced the Rockets were spiraling out of the playoffs before it was announced. One thing that sticks clearly in my mind was how Hakeem was so overjoyed about Clyde coming to the Rockets and how he expressed zero remorse about OT leaving. I've always wondered if Hakeem and OT weren't on the best of terms at the time.
I'll never forget going to my first-ever NBA game that year, not long after the Drexler trade, which turned out to be one of the greatest regular season games of all time: Rox/Mavs in April (I think). The Rockets were down by 9 with just 51 seconds left and managed to tie the game with an impressive and miraculous barrage of 3s. Then in the first overtime, the Rockets were leading by 11 with just 59 seconds left and blew it! Kidd hit a few sick 3s and suddenly the Mavs forced a second OT, in which they won the game. I can only think of two or three instances ever where a team trails by 9 or more with under a minute left and rallies to tie, but to see it happen twice in the same game? That must be a record. And yet for some reason, that game is hardly ever talked about, despite both teams scoring over 140 points. The Rockets' blowing an 11-pt lead with 59 seconds left in OT was more stunning than their losing to the Bulls last year after leading by 17 with about 5 minutes left. Dallas was a horrendous team at the time, and we were defending world champs. At the time, we chalked it up to the Dream's and Mad Max's absences. Still, no one, even that late in the year, foresaw our dramatic playoff run and eventual title defense. Ever since then, I've considered 47 wins the minimum magic number needed to win a championship!
I have been saying that forever. There were no-names at the time of the championships but now everyone knows Cassell, Horry, and even Smith is more famous now than when he was The Jet. It wasn't just Dream and a bunch of role-players in 1994. Even Thorpe was an All-Star. They were GREAT teams and damn good players.
Leave it to a 99er to post some vintage thread Thanks Clutch! Two undisputed Hall of Fame players on one team. Too bad Jordan got beat by that Orlando team that we swept. That Orlando team had their best player of all time without any question, Shaq and we dropped the hammer on them.
Hakeem, Horry, Cassell, OT, Vernon, Kenny, Drexler, Elie, Chilcutt, Recasner -- those are big names no doubt about that.
Great thread! I vividly remember Hakeem being interviewed in front of his locker after the trade was announced. The best word to describe his demeanor at the time was "giddy." He was clearly overjoyed that his friend was being brought in. I remember in Clyde's first home game, Guy Lewis was on the Summit floor with the microphone yelling, "Are you ready for Phi Slama Jamma II?" or something like that. Of course the crowd was going nuts. I was thrilled we got him. I didn't care about chemistry or anything, I mean it was Clyde freaking Drexler for God's sake. I really liked Maxwell at the time, but this was such an upgrade, and an exciting one to boot. My best memories of Clyde before the magical playoff run that season were: Clyde's first basket with the Rockets--fittingly a dunk--vs. the Hornets, Clyde nailing the nearly half-court 3 to win it in Denver, the mega-dunk over Chris Dudley when Portland came to town, and the string of 30 point games he put up when Hakeem got injured. The funny thing is, I always thought that Clyde was this uber-serious guy that never showed any emotion on the court. Only now have I come to realize what a goofball he really is. Good times!
