Been a fan since the late '60s when they were the SD Rockets. Grew up in Houston and my dad use to take me to UH BB gms. Loved Big E and followed him a little bit when they were in SD. As a young kid I was really excited when my dad told me they were moving to Houston. I still have my SD Rockets cap from when I was a kid. Have awesome memories from their days at Hofheinz. Stu Lantz, Mike Newlin, Murphy, Rudy T. and countless others. Remember going to see them play the Knicks every yr (Frazier, Monroe, Willis Reed, Bradley & Debusschere), the Hawks (Pistol Pete, Lou Hudson & Bellamy), the Celtics (Havlicek, Jo Jo White, Cowens, Nelson) and many others. All of a sudden they get John Lucas and Moses and they got pretty damn good. Moses Malone was a BEAST back in those days. Seemed like he would continually put up 25-30 pts and 20 rebounds a gm. I could go on and on but as you can see I've been a Rocket fan since I can remember.
I was 6-7 years old in 94-95 and have vague memories about the championship years. Became a true fan during the Francis Mobley era so guess 13-14 years
Since I first started watching basketball which was in 1991. Born in 82' so I was just 9 years old. Over 20 years now. Growing up poor and not living in Houston, I couldn't watch the games unless they showed them on the weekends on Local Networks.(or playoffs) I had a pretty good AM radio though, that somehow I picked up a decent feed to listen to Gene & Jim broadcast the games and bring it to life. Even though I live about 8 hours from Houston I was able to get a good feed. First Jersey was Hakeem, the ugly cartoon logo, to go along with a starter Rockets Jacket with that same ugly logo. Never been to a game, so it is on my bucket list, but I hardly if ever miss a game, and If I can't watch it, believe me that I'm keeping up with it on a smartphone.
I've been a Rockets fan since the only NBA superstar shoes I could afford were Hakeem's Spaldings. My favorite player was Steve Francis for a while... Then Yao was drafted and all Asians were Rockets fans and I looked like I joined the bandwagon because I'm Asian and not from Houston.
followed Rockets during the Hakeem champ years. Ride my bike to my uncle's house - who have cable TV that time - to watch. But, I became a Rocket fan only when JLin joined the Rox. JLin makes me open an account in CF . I think, when I was a kid, I don't have a PC, much less internet in our area - lolz.
I was born into being a Rockets fan (1989), the first thing I partially remember is the kiss of death. My first vivid memory is the Eddie Johnson three pointer in the WCF 1997, I was obsessed with basketball by that point.
I have probably told this story a few times here, but its one I like telling and a pretty unique story since I'm not from Houston. Born in 83, basketball was my first love and by the early 90's I had a favorite player (Drexler) and team (Blazers). Growing up in Michigan I can't exactly remember why I started liking them, but I'm sure it had something to do with the Blazers playing the Pistons in the 90 Finals. When I was young for some reason I hated all the hometown teams. Anyway's while I don't remember the 90 Finals, I have vivid memories of the 92 Finals against the Bulls and having everyone against me cause of course it was the Bulls and Jordan. I also have vivid memories of the first round match up between the Rockets and Blazers in 94 and rooting for the Blazers and Drexler. Then of course Drexler was traded to the Rockets in 95 and the soon to be 12 year old version of myself had a decision to make. What did I like more, Drexler or the Blazers Obviously I chose Drexler, became a Rocket fan, and within a year Olajuwon replaced Drexler as my favorite Rocket and also my favorite athlete of all time. Something interesting that my little cousin told me (he just turned 12) was that 12 is the cutoff age to change your favorite team. Couldn't help but think of my situation and how I switched teams just a few months before my 12th birthday.
Aside from a general interest during the Yao era, I didn't really follow the Rockets until Jeremy Lin came to town. Then I started to REALLY follow the Rockets once the Harden trade happened. Two of my favorite young players on the same team forced me to become a Rockets fan. I didn't really follow basketball in the 90s (didn't really get into it until my college years) so I missed out on the Championship runs.
Started to watch NBA casually in early 90's. At the time, I still lived in Germany. Sports programs were occupied by soccer and tennis. Since Detlef Schrempf moved to NBA, and later traded to Sonics, there were more and more coverage of NBA, especially Seattle. But later on, I was just hooked up by Dream - who wouldn't if you enjoy a big man game? As an OOF, I had no choice but to root for the Rockets. Stayed as a Rockets fan since then, so it's been like 20 years. The ride wasn't easy, but we were blessed with quality big men. It's about time to re-live some of the past glories again.
the 60's? Are you talking the San Diego Rockets? All I am saying is that a lot of us might not have joined the board in 99, but we really joined a long long time before then.
Grew up in KC. KC Kings were my home team growing up until they moved in 85. Second team was Celtics. 3rd team was Rockets. After Kings moved I started following Rockets and Celts primarily. Moved to Houston in early 90's. Been following them devoutly ever since.
My family lived in Malaysia for 3 years when I was about 10. When we came back my dad took a job in Salt Lake. Something didn't seem right about Stockton, Malone, Sloan, and Hot Rod. So when we moved to Texas a year later I was all over the Rox and haven't looked back despite going to school in Utah and enduring the humiliating playoff experiences there during the Yao/Tmac era. They threw pizza at me. They deserve Ty Corbin.
