Rockets legends welcome Rudy Tomjanovich to Hall of Fame

Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Calvin Murphy are thrilled to have Rudy Tomjanovich join them in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

As first reported by Fox 26 Houston’s Mark Berman, former Rockets player and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich was indeed selected to the Hall of Fame in Saturday’s official Class of 2020 reveal.

When Tomjanovich is enshrined later this year, he’ll join former Rockets legends such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Calvin Murphy at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

After Saturday’s announcement, Berman caught up with those previously enshrined Hall of Famers from the Rockets for their reaction.

Olajuwon was NBA Finals MVP during both of Houston’s championship runs in 1994 and 1995. Regarding his coach, Olajuwon said:

It’s no question it’s well deserved. I’m very, very happy it finally came true. I’ve been hoping it would happen for a long time. What he has done for the game of basketball speaks for itself. I’m proud of him.

Drexler and Murphy echoed Olajuwon’s sentiment, with Drexler saying that Tomjanovich “finally gets his just due among the great coaches that have been a part of this game.”

Now 71 years old, Tomjanovich played for the Rockets from 1970 through 1981, and was head coach from 1992 through 2003. That run included Houston’s only two NBA titles in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.

In his 11-plus seasons as head coach, Tomjanovich led the Rockets to a 503-397 (.559) regular-season record and a 51-39 (.567) mark in the NBA playoffs, headlined by Houston’s two championships in 1994 and 1995. He is by far the winningest coach in franchise history.

Tomjanovich had been the only coach in history with multiple NBA titles and an Olympic gold medal who was not in the Hall of Fame.

Besides his extensive accomplishments as a head coach, Tomjanovich was also a dynamic player for the Rockets ⁠— with averages of 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game over 11 seasons from 1970 through 1981. He was a five-time All-Star at power forward.

Tomjanovich and other members of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 are scheduled to be enshrined on Saturday, Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Players to be inducted alongside “Rudy T” will include Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and the late Kobe Bryant.

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