Because population of the city does not alone determine the size of a media market. Houston is actually 10th in the US. http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets
I'm amazed how many times i have read on here that Houston isn't a place where guys wanna play… Moses Malone, Hakeem, Sampson, Drexler, Pippen, Barkley, Yao, Tmac all played here.. LeBron picked Miami because D-wade was there and had the most CAP SPACE.. Guys wanna go where Pre-exsisting stars are already at.. and those pre exsisting stars were drafted by those teams.. on the first page someone said guys wanna go to dallas because they have mark cuban? WTF!! yea i'm sure dallas getting guys to come had nothing to do with having Dirk.. it was all because Cuban has "cool locker rooms" and neato Planes to fly in.. Cuban hasn't owned the mavs for ONE DAY without a guy named Dirk playing for him.. let's see how many "stars" he gets when Dirk is gone.. Stars are drafted, and if they are traded for it will only be because that star has seen some sort of bright future from that team's GM.. We have no one here at the present time besides maybe K-Low and Parsons that would put us in the "up and coming young team".. This is our opportunity to set ourselves up for the future, we have picks and certain players we "could" trade for better picks or young talent.. i hope Morey shows us what he can do..
Houston is actually really desirable to athletes half the NBA comes down here at some point in the offseason. The one thing i have learned in the few athletes I have met (played a lot of aau basketball, and have a few friends I still keep contact with who play in the NBA And overseas) is they all like warm weather and being able to drive there own cars around easily. Houston has both of these and more fom the food to shopping at the galleria it's actually I nice city to chill in and keep it low key. As many athletes that like to be in the glamor there's more that just like to chill. I would say Houston is def recognized among athletes and is a top 5 city to play in. What some of you guys fail to remember is that while it seems like the lakers and Miami ext. have all the good players and that's we're everyone wants to go, but the reality is that those teams have been very good teams for a while in a desirable city. Unlike Houston whos missed the playoffs 3yrs in a row with no all star. 2 yrs ago mello was open to a trade with and extension with Houston but as soon as Yao got hurt he Didnt want to come anymore and it had nothing to do with Houston as a city it had to do with the rockets as a team.
It's not that Houston has a bad rep, it's just not as "glamorous" as some of the other cities like NY, Chicago, LA, and Miami. However, with that being said, at least we don't have the reputation of like a Detroit or a Cleveland. Being in a market like New York, Chicago or LA affords players the opportunity to pursue other ventures aside from basketball which is why you see a lot of the bigger name stars gravitating towards those markets. Houston is a big city and gaining quickly on Chicago as the 3rd most populous city in the US, but unfortunately, it doesn't have the reputation of one of the aforementioned city as far as bright lights and night life are concerned. I think a big part of the reason why the Rockets haven't been as successful at attracting marquee free agents is simply due to the fact that we are pretty far from a state of contention. We are and have been a team swimming in mediocrity for the better part of the last decade. Once we start winning some more games and re-establishing that winning culture from the 90's, we'll be good to go. Until then, the best way to get a top shelf talent is through the draft.
From a Branding/Marketing perspective, I understand why some of the "stars" seek out going to PLAY in LA or NY. Its good for their business which is getting their product in front of as many people as they can. However, realize that living in Houston is a whole other conversation. So many pro athletes make Houston their offseason home because of the amount of "bang for your buck" you can get with homes and lifestyle and NO STATE TAX. Do you guys realize that an additional 8% comes off your earnings if you live in the state of California? When your making multi-millions, thats alot, and worth taking a look at the lone star state for. Plus you have two other positives going your way. Central Standard time to make traveling easier, and warm weather. Not to mention a very up and coming urban environment. Cities like Austin and even Dallas have somewhat of a reputation for the "finer things" like restaurants, fancy clubs, etc. Houston is now better IMO than Dallas, but not as neat as Austin. Plus, the cost of living is the best in Texas. Austin is one of the cooler cities in the nation mind what your intrests are. San Antonio just sucks. Hate that place. I can say this because Ive lived in all these areas of Texas as some point in time. I haven't lived in New York, CHI, and LA, but Ive been there enough to tell you that they are both really awesome (NY & CHI especially), but from a pro-athletes standpoint, I can see why they would setup shop for a few months in Texas in the offseason. What do pro-athletes like more than anything.... Big Houses and driving their big cars... Cant do that in NY, CHI, or even LA in most areas around the metroplex. You can drive all you want in LA, but have fun in traffic getting 8 miles a gallon in your Escalade. Now alot of the glass half empty Rockets fans say that "Morey is chasing away players" and whatnot because he treats them like poor little assets. Truth is, we really dont know what they honestly think of Morey. All we know that Kevin Martin is one player who got his feelings hurt with the trade. One player. It didnt affect anyone else on the team. Seems like an isolated incident to me. The influx of stars that joined forces in 2009 and 2010 had more to do with the Superfriends joining forces with Wade in Miami. These players going to Miami had NOTHING TO DO WITH HOUSTON or MOREY. Just because 3 or 4 players went to another city years ago. Those 3 or 4 players probably dont even know who Daryl Morey is. You know who they do know of though.... Hakeem, Clyde, and Yao. thats about it. That and their agents probably say its a good place to fill out your 1040 in because we all make more money that way. You can argue all you want about this, but the truth is we have no idea what goes through the head of a superstar when they think of the Houston Rockets, but history says that they LOVE to live their. So take that for what its worth. Arguing whether they they think Morey is a meany-pants is ridiculous and a stupid argument.
Why did someone start this dumb-arse thread? Did they lose their mind? What city do the Rockets represent? Buffalo? I think not. Houston is a great city. Yes, it is flat, but despite that, it's a great city. Sure, I've lived in Austin for over 30 years now, but Houston is my hometown (and I lived there over 30 years before I made the wonderful move to "still groovy after all these years" Austin), and threads like these have no business being in the GARM. Why? Because they are ****ing stupid, that's why.
The tax thing is somewhat exaggerated - pro athletes not only have to pay taxes to their home state, but they have to pay taxes for road games played in other states on a prorated basis, so the impact of it is diminished a bit.
I think this is an interesting topic, but it has a simple answer: When you do not have championship aspirations, who will come? When you draft redundant pics with the 13th, or 14th pics every draft, what do you think is gonna happen? When the front office(owner) speaks about being predatory in the free agent or trading period and come up empty time after time. Then there is a problem. In the years of our championship window (93-98 give or take a year), we seemed not to have a problem bringing or trading for top tier talent. The writing is on the wall.
houston is fine... lebron going to miami kinda changed things too. the stars used to be more evenly dispersed across the league, but now they are trying to cluster together. there's really only 10-12 franchise quality players in the league right now... everyone else is just 'pretty good.' we will get one of the next generation's up and coming stars - at least thats what i think... but it will take time since we won't tank. in a few years well be back to contention. if i survive that long...
Funny how you took time to rant about a topic that you felt was so stupid...i think this is quite an interesting topic...I too am a native Houstonian...and I love my city...Sorry to see that dementia has started kicking in...
Why in the world would a super star free agent want to sign in Houston right now? So they can play with Hakeem? No that can't be it. Maybe Yao... Wait no that can't be it either... Wait maybe because mchale has a great track record in Minnesota... No that can't be it either. Kevin Martin? No that can't be it either. Well.. Anyone have an answer....? It's not like we're possibly drafting one of the most talented bigmen to come out of the draft in years. "We don't believe in tanking.".... Yeah i remember.... The city of Houston has alot to offer. I live in NYC now and Rockets fans love their team more than these Yankee chumps ever will. we would protest and sleep out in the rain for a new stadium to be built. Yes... The 99ers on this board would have been willing to do just that. There is proof of that on this board for those that remember. Thr city of Houston itself is no way a problem. The problem is Mr les alexander has been an over rated owner for years. He is not terrible owner but he definitely is spoiled by the fruits of Hakeem's labor and until now has had some luck. He stepped in at the right time and got a championship. When hakeem's era was coming to a close he somehow snatched Francis from vancuver. Even with Francis we had a stepping stone and yes some Free agents were excited to come here. heck we then drafted Yao and Mcgrady begged and pleaded to be traded here. Artest wanted to come here. Bonzi wells,Swift, and derick anderson at that time were extremely coveted free agents at that time and they definitely wanted to sign here. Morey has pulled some rabbits out of his hat the past couple years but honestly right now this organization has nothing to offeri. Bad rep? Not really in my opinion. If a big rookie got drafted i doubt he'll complain. But land and entice a stud during free agent... We really have nothing to offer but fair weather and tax breaks. they can get that in florida with the hest and there 3 stars or orlando with dwight. if they're going to move to texas why not dallas that is short of a few pieces for a championship again or san antonio where they are still making runs. It's time for the fans to make a stand. We fought for this organization to stay in houston. Now it's time to demand this organization to give us a team that can make this city believe in its Clutch city once more. Les you owe the fans a new star. Get us anthony davis.
