Hey yall i was just wondering about the trade the rockets made for Barkley back in the 90's. I was only 8 years old back then when that happened so i wasnt too into sports yet but i moved from Phoenix to Houston the same time he got traded and he was my favorite player since he was on the suns at the time, but i was just wondering how old school rockets fans felt after we had just won 2 back to back championships and then traded alot of the pieces for 1 player. Were rocket fans happy at the time or pissed?
i was pissed at robert horry because he didn't live up to the potential that he showed in the Orlando series. He was playing like an all-star. I was gonna miss sam cassell too, but to get barkley, it was worth it. it felt like it would feel now if we got Kevin Garnett at this point in his carreer. you'd feel like, yeah, he's got a few years left--and you'd be adding him with dream and glide. i was also excited about the video game possibilities and looked forward to reading his quotes every day in the paper.
I certainly wasn't happy, but I was young as well. I was like ten when it happened. It reminds ya of today when teams unload a bunch of their significant role players for a star player. Didn't happen as often back then, but now it's happening often. Works sometimes, sometimes not. Case in point is the Nuggets trading for AI. Many expected them to shoot up the standings by acquiring a second star player to play alongside Melo, but they didn't have role players to complement the dynamic, yet iso scorers that both Melo and Iverson were.
I was 11 or 12, and even back then I was ambivalent. It wasn't back to back championships when we traded for him; we had just gotten swept by the Sonics after a heartbreaking Game 4 where we made a furious comeback to send it to OT only to lose then. I still hate George Karl because of that series; he never stopped playing illegal D against our Rockets the entire time he was Sonics coach. But yeah I don't think you could find many Rocket fans who were against it at the time. It's just that Sam Cassell was like my second favorite player on the Rockets at the time, so I was probably one of the sadder ones regarding the trade.
I was happy at the time they made the trade, then I started watching games and became a Kings fan that season (I loved Mitch Richmond). It was up there with the JVG era on the boring scale.
I felt the sad the day the trade was made. Ended up happy when they defeated the Sonics, only to be angry when they lost the jazz You make a trade to get over one team (sonics), then the team you used to dominate comes back and bites you in the arse.(jazz)
The Rockets were getting owned by Seattle back then. The back 2 back champs got swept out of the playoffs in '96 I dont think they had any other choice because they were probably going to lose Horry and Cassell to FA so they made a move that made the frontcourt stronger. The trade did work because they made it to the WCF. Its just that our sarting pg got hurt that year and the team was being led by Matt Maloney
We needed Barkley's rebounding and additional inside help for Dream. When we lost OT for Drexler, We lost alot of interior presence. Western Conference Finals. Any Rocket fan now would give an arm or leg for that. Plus the number of times the Rockets were on national TV literally doubled.
http://clutchfans.net/feature.cfm?FeatureID=55 A Tribute to Sir Charles THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000 6:36 AM CT By Michael Fulton Copyright 2000 ClutchFans.net Round Mound walks away Honorable, and sometimes dishonorable, Charles Barkley was always fun Today is a sad day. As I wake up this morning, I come to realize that something is missing. That something is the honorable (and sometimes dishonorable, but always fun) Sir Charles Barkley. This season started with such promise for the Rockets. The cancer was gone. We finally had a point guard. Hakeem Olajuwon was in good shape. And the Round Mound of Rebound was on a mission to bring home a championship in his final season. But it was not to be and this season of hope ended on that cold (they were playing in Philly, not Texas) December night when Charles went down with a ruptured quadriceps tendon. Or so we thought. The despair for this Rockets team eventually turned back into hope as we found Charles' successor, a brash young trash-talking rookie with the game to back it up, a guy by the name of Stevie Franchise. And we began to see Sir Charles' influence on this team as the cockiness shown thru, but they worked hard and had fun, even when they were losing. And now the future looks bright for the Rockets. And last night we found out it wasn't over for Sir Charles either. He wouldn't let that freak accident end his career. He would walk off the court on his terms... and walk off he did to a standing ovation from the Houston crowd who loved him so much. I have had a love hate relationship with Charles Barkley during his time here in Houston. Until this past year, I thought he hurt this team more than he helped them with his style of play and his controversial attitude. But this year, as the rebuilding process began, I saw that Charles was the one person I wanted these young players to learn from, even more than Hakeem. His numbers are indisputable. One of only three players with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists, Barkley has career averages of 22.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. He ranks 13th on the all time scoring list with 23,757 points and 15th on the all time rebounding list with 12,546. All this from a man who was many times 6 inches shorter than the man he was guarding. The knock on Charles the last couple of years has been that he never won a championship. To that I say, neither has Ernie Banks or Karl Malone or Dan Marino or Ken Griffey, Jr. And Steve Kerr has more than one. Championships never has been and never will be a way to measure a player. Rudy said it best last night when he said Charles Barkley had the "heart of a champion" and it was only fitting that he end his career on the team that has come to epitomize the phrase. I have long been a fan of Hakeem Olajuwon. He is what brought me to the Rockets oh so many years ago. And although I rooted for him because he was on my team, I can honestly say I was never a fan of Sir Charles Barkley. But today, as I wake up with a heavy heart, I come to realize one thing. I am a fan, a fan of the best little man to ever play this game. Charles, thanks for the memories. You will be missed
Hated it. Every time Chuck had the ball on Dream's low block was one less time that Dream had the ball on Dream's low block. Called sports talk radio and b****ed about the potential trade when it first became a rumor. The addition of Kevin Willis alone was all that team needed. We sold our soul, and identity, to beat the Sonics. Only now we could no longer beat Utah. Oh the irony. It was like an old Alfred Hitchcock episode.
I was 14 so I remember it really well because I was one of those people who wouldnt miss anything related to the Rockets and man I was happy.
I remember it was announced on a Sunday. I think Hannah Storm made the announcement. It was during an Afternoon of football during halftime of a game.
Right move, we weren't going to beat Seattle and Barkley was the missing piece. Problem was that Barkley left us exposed to Utah. Love Horry but he was a super role player and Sam hadn't reached his potential and it wouldn't happen for a few more years. Put it simply, it gave us a chance to win now and that is exactly what happened.
