With some of the best players available in the NBA, both past and present, the Houston Rockets players are all over the board when it comes to personalities and even Gd-given talent.
With names such as Charles Barkley, Rick Barry, Shane Battier, Matt Bullard, Clyde Drexler, John Lucas, Moses Malone, Rodney McCray, Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovitch, Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming how could any team go wrong?
The Houston Rockets player’s that were pure Rockets only and did not leave since they were recruited by the Rockets were Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone. Of course there are many more great players that started their career with the Houston Rockets and ended it the same way yet Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone were very important as well as impacting players.
Moses Malone Rebounding Machine
Starting off with Moses Malone this rebounding machine could also score and play very good defense with his long arms and extra wide body. Recruited right out of high school Moses Malone started the trend of players making the jump from high school to professional in a day and age when that was never done.
Most players saw the college experience as just that an experience that should be enjoyed and not skipped over. Moses Malone did not share those sentimentalities.
Making Jump over College Straight into Professional RanksIt did not come into play until much later after Moses Malone had already been in the league for a few years that the notion about an injury that occurred in college or could occur in college was not worth the risk of a lucrative million dollar(s) contract.
This boils down to what the individual player, and at the point in time of being in high school, that player’s parents and other family members think about making a jump over college straight into the professional ranks. With millions of dollars at play in today’s market that choice is rather easy to make but back in the mid-70’s it was quite a different story.
Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon
One of the biggest if not biggest names ever in the Houston Rockets player’s organization had to be Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon. This monster of a man swatted balls into the 17th and 18th Astrodome seats while playing for the Houston Rockets and also was the reason that that Houston Rockets can lay claim to a couple NBA Finals World Championships in 1994, 1995.
Hakeem is a Hall of Famer with the Houston Rockets and is one of the best Rockets players ever to wear their red and Crimson. Big E Played with the Houston Rockets even Before they Were the Houston Rockets.
Houston Rockets players that we would be remiss if we did not mention a blast from the past as well as a present-day hero for the Houston Rockets player’s organization team roster. For the past that would be Elvin Hayes. The Big E played with the Houston Rockets even before they were the Houston Rockets.
Recruited during the 1968 season as a first-round draft pick out of University of Houston Elvin Hayes played three years with the Rockets organization and is seen as one of the best players ever to play for the Rockets in both San Diego and Houston.
Greatest Houston Rocket Yao Ming
The present and one of the greatest Rockets players would have to be Yao Ming. Yao Ming is the dominating force in the middle for the Houston Rockets and at 7’6” has a polished professional NBA game. Unstoppable is an understatement. The all powerful Yao Ming has his way with other NBA centers and can only be handled with exceptional centers such as Shaquille O’Neal and other extremely big man with extreme basketball skills. Otherwise it’s like a man playing with the child.