About the year after we won our 2nd Title. I was busy playing truth or dear (as an 8 yr old)while family and friends were going crazy because of the title. I got on the bandwagon around 96' when we still had Dream, Drexler, Cassell etc. and have been a follower since!
It was the rockets that got me into the NBA the 1st year they got Yao Ming was my first year watch a full season of rockets ball....I loved it.
04-05 Rockets. Bob Sura, David Wesley, Ryan Bowen, Scott Padgett, Juwan Howard. MAN that team sucked as far as talent
I watched some games on the tube prior to 1968, but '68 was when I really started following the league. The San Diego Rockets won a coin toss (sound familiar?) and selected Elvin Hayes #1 in the draft. I was a big UH fan and, of course, a big fan of Hayes. When the Rockets moved to Houston, it seemed too perfect. It was. They traded him to the Bullets a year after coming to our fair city. A nugget about Elvin? His rookie year, he averaged 28.4 ppg and 17.1 rebounds, leading the league in scoring. Beating UCLA was no fluke, people.
I'm a lifer. For me it was my dad touting the play of Phi Slamma Jamma...I was probably about 5 or 6 then. When Akeem went to the Rockets it was natural for me to follow them since my dad was a Houston sports fan....I remember the early days of Akeem, Ralph Sampson, Robert Reid, Rodney McCray, Jim Peterson, Mitch Wiggins, etc. As a kid, certain things stick out....I remember Bill Worrell in his much younger days, Hannah Storm doing sideline reporting, Mattress Mac commercials, "Slime in the ice buckets", etc. I remember in elementary school thinking Sleepy Floyd and even Vernon Maxwell were just as good as Michael Jordan when they were on their games(which admittedly was few and far between). I played basketball as much as I could and watched as much as I could of the pros. When I got older we moved away from Houston and I didn't get to see as many games but I still followed them in the paper and of course I watched every time they played the "local" team where I was living(first against the Tarpley/Blackman era Mavs and then against the David Robinson pre Duncan era Spurs). Despite living near those cities, I never really fell in love with the Mavs or the Spurs. They always seemed like someone else's team. When I was in high school I got to go to my first game in person - the Rockets/Spurs in San Antonio in the playoffs, the year Robinson won the MVP award. Hakeem killed Robinson and I remember watching from the nosebleeds completely amazed at how effortless Hakeem made it look...it was hypnotizing watching Hakeem dominate the game. Big shot Rob hit a 3 late in the 4th to seal the win and I was ecstatic. I loved the Rockets before, but after that game, I really became a HUGE fan not only of those loveable Rockets teams, but of the game of basketball. It's really a beautiful thing when played well.....and now I'm here.
1994 sittin in the living room of my grandparents apartment on Chimney Rock watching the Rockets in the Finals as my parents watched it live at the Compaq Center! BOTH years, same living room maybe i should rent that apartment and watch the playoffs there
I'm a third generation Houston sports fan. My grandparents were season tickets holders for the Oilers and Colt .45's (later Astros). I was much more into baseball and football back then, and my sister was more of an NBA fan than me (she was a Jordan fan), but I certainly remember 81, 86 and Phi Slamma Jamma as a kid. I came to basketball later I guess because I was so bad at it as a kid. I was way more into playing football. At some point in the Sleepy Floyd era I started watching regularly with my dad, and gradually got more diehard. In the 90's I became less of an Astros fan after the MLB strike, and less of an NFL fan after the Oilers pulled out and by the time I left Houston in 97, I started buying tickets to every Clipper and Laker game the rockets had in town AND watched the Summer League games when they were in Long Beach. When I started making better money I usually sat a few rows behind the Rockets bench, which was cool because I met people from the organization, (and rarely) players. It was a really positive experience and I became pretty fanatical supporter of the franchise, and I can't say that about any other team in any other sport.
I've followed basketball as long as I've played it which is about 11 years now, since I was 10 but the team/player that started to really peak my interest in the NBA was the 05 suns...oh baby could they make some pretty plays. Plus I'm born and raised in Canada so Nash obviously gets the sentimental fan vote from me.
1959-my dad said come watch this battle between these two really tall guys- Wilt and Russell. And come watch this magician with the ball- Cousy. I was a Boston fan through 1968 when Russell retired. But I am Rocket Red since they moved from San Diego.
1971-I remember it like it was yesterday. Texas Instruments releases the first pocket calculator, "Summer of 42" was in theaters(I loved Jennifer O'Neill), All in the Family debuts on TV, and the Rockets move to Houston.
89-90 playoffs - bulls anyone who has seen him play in the playoffs in his prime (prime jordan was 86-91) would have no doubt that he is the GOAT. 93-94-95 playoffs - rockets olajuwon dominated all 3 of the top centers of his generation during this time. best center of all time in my opinion.
Early 90's, I was a casual fan. In other words, I just watched Michael Jordan. Then the Rockets won a championship. I found out because the whole city rallied. I saw "Go Rockets" and "Believe It" on every billboard and marquee sign on the road. So I started watching. After that, I hated on Michael Jordan for a while. I've been die-hard Rockets ever since
1973 watching the Knicks/Lakers NBA finals is my first memory of watching the NBA. Remember the 1976 finals when Garfield Heard hit the shot to send the game in to triple OT. Incredible game. Really became a big NBA fan in 1984 watching those incredible Boston/Los Angeles series. Was a HUGE Celtics/Bird fan back then. People forget it wasn't just Boston/LA too. Boston had huge rivalries with Philly and later Detroit too. Always watched the Rockets during the 80's....respected them because they could beat the hated Lakers and Olajuwon was just a freak of an athlete. Moved to Houston in 1991 and became a gigantic Rockets fan in 1993 when mid season they went on a tear...beat the Clippers in round 1 and lost in game 7 on the road (robbed?) at Seattle. That series was amazing ....especially game 7. Officiating? Not so much.
2000 or 2001 after Steve "Franchise" was traded to the Rockets. Became a diehard fan after Yao Ming got drafted and then the T-mac trade. Then I found this BBS.
