10 things to remember from the Rockets’ first championship, 30 years later – Houston Public Media

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Thirty years ago this Saturday, June 22, 1994, the Houston Rockets won the first of back-to-back NBA championships. They beat the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals in seven games.

The championship was an exhilarating moment for a city that had seen more than its share of sporting disappointments (and more to come). For example, the Oilers had blown big leads in the NFL playoffs on several occasions before the franchise’s ultimate disappointment – leaving town altogether after the 1996 season.

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Jeff Balke, who writes for Houston Press and co-organizes the Bleav in Astros podcast, says Houston matters With producer Celeste Schurman, things were different back then. The Astros had yet to experience their dominant playoff run and two World Series victories.

“Houston wasn’t considered a big sports town at the time,” he said. “…Houston didn’t really have the kind of swagger about it that it has today. It was a very self-aware city… having a title, whatever it was, was very important here.

The Rockets were led by future Hall of Fame center and University of Houston alumnus Hakeem Olajuwon. Alongside him were Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, Otis Thorpe and Sam Cassell. The team’s head coach was Rudy Tomjanovich, who himself entered the Hall of Fame as a coach.

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While many Houstonians will never forget that title run and what it meant for the city, many new and younger Houstonians might need a refresher on this important milestone in the city’s sports history, on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.

10 THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE FIRST ROCKETS CHAMPIONSHIP:

1. Takeoff — The 1993-94 Rockets started the regular season with a bang, going 15-0 and winning 22 of their first 23 games. They finished the regular season with a 58-24 record, winning the Midwest Division and entering the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference.

2. Historic MVP season — Olajuwon was named NBA MVP that season, becoming the first player born outside the United States to do so. And he would become the first player to win this award in the same season he was also named NBA Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and won the championship.

David J. Phillip/AP

3. Go from “Choke City” to “Clutch City” — In the second round of the playoffs, the Rockets blew big leads and lost the first two games to the lower-seeded Phoenix Suns. After the defeat of the second match, the Houston Chronicle said “Choke City” in a front-page headline.

However, when Houston rallied to win the series and ultimately the championship, the city’s other newspaper, The Houston Postwas titled “Clutch City,” a nickname still used today.

In fact, when the Rockets added a new mascot in 1995, the team named him Clutch the Bear.

Pat Sullivan/AP

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4. A very different type of fast break — One thing fans who watched the NBA Finals on television that year will never forget is how, on June 17, 1994, NBC interrupted the broadcast of Game 5 to broadcast live footage of the police chase of OJ Simpson.

The former NFL star and actor allegedly held a gun to his head and was suicidal in the back of a white Ford Bronco driven by his friend AC Cowlings on a Los Angeles freeway as police cars followed him . This was after an investigation into the murders of Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

“For Rockets and Knicks fans, it was something we weren’t really excited about,” Balke said.

Joseph Villarin/AP, File

5. The atmosphere in the city — Balke recalled how, especially after beating Phoenix, the city became extremely galvanized behind the team.

“You really couldn’t go anywhere without seeing Rockets shirts and hats. There were buildings decorated with Rockets memorabilia,” he said. “It was a very, very big deal – as much as you would have seen when the Astros were winning their championships. It was very similar to that.

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6. How the game and team were different — Today, teams shoot a lot of 3-pointers and score a lot more points. At the time the league was dominated by big players in the middle and the game was much more defensive.

While the Rockets had the game’s most dominant center in Olajuwon, Balke said Tomjanovich encouraged players like him to give up the ball when double-teamed, sending the ball to a group of deadly long-range shooters, like Elie, Horry, Smith, Maxwell and Cassell.

Rick Bowmer and David J. Phillip/AP

7. New York vs. Houston — The NBA Finals pitted the nation’s largest city against the fourth-largest city. It pitted a city and team with numerous championships under its belt against a city and team in search of its first (at least in the modern era of major sports leagues).

At one point, The New York Post (always known for his subtlety) called Houston a “hellhole.”

“It was a very intense rivalry and a very intense time in basketball, especially here in Houston,” Balke said.

8. Ugly ball — The final was a tough, back-and-forth, defensive-minded, low-scoring affair that lasted a full seven games, leading Sports Illustrated to call the series an “ugly ball,” Balke said.

The total scores in most matches were around 80 points and never reached 100 points.

In Game 6, with New York leading the series 3-2, Knicks guard John Starks was on fire from the court. In the final moments, Starks attempted a 3-point attempt that likely would have ended the series. But Olajuwon blocked that attempt to preserve the victory and send the series to a decisive seventh game.

9. How the city reacted — After the Rockets held on to beat the Knicks in Game 7 by a score of 90-84 and win the title, Balke said he was struck by the reaction and celebration from the city’s fans. In other cities, celebrations turned into riots, with cars overturned and objects set on fire.

“Houston was the exact opposite,” Balke said. “It was kind of a really euphoric feeling.”

David J. Phillip/AP

Like many other Houstonians, he went to town to celebrate with the crowds of fans gathered along Richmond Avenue near Greenway Plaza.

“People were jumping in the back of my truck, diving out my window and hugging me,” he said. “And you know, there were people dancing in the middle of the street.”

10. A turning point for the city — The 1994 championship took place on the heels of an oil crisis and a time when the city was transforming from a more blue-collar oil town to a more white-collar town. Balke said the victory was a turning point for a city that many outsiders considered flat, hot and ugly.

David J. Phillip/AP

“A lot of Houstonians were bothered by this,” he said. “I think it gave us something to hang our collective hat on and say, ‘Hey, maybe we’re not as bad as we thought.'”

Of course, the Rockets won the championship again the following year, a playoff run according to Balke is even more interesting than the first title, as the team faced more adversity (starting the playoffs with a much lower seed) and presented the addition. from University of Houston alumnus Clyde Drexler to the team.

Elaine Thompson/AP