Murphy was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993, while Olajuwon joined him in 2008. On May 15, 2021, Tomjanovich joins both of them.
Former Houston Rockets player and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich will have franchise icons Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon formally present him into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to the Hall’s official announcement. Tomjanovich is a part of the Class of 2020, which will have its enshrinement ceremony on May 15, 2021.
Tomjanovich played with Murphy throughout his 11-year career from 1970 through 1981. Olajuwon was the star player during his two NBA championships as a coach, 1994 and 1995. The full list of players to be inducted, along with their presenters, is available here.
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.
Besides his extensive accomplishments as a coach, “Rudy T” was also a dynamic player — with averages of 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He was a five-time All-Star at power forward.
Others being inducted in the Class of 2020 include Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and the late Kobe Bryant.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the enshrinement ceremony for the 2020 Hall of Fame class has been moved to May 13-15, 2021.
Nine months later than first planned, former Houston Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich will finally have his enshrinement ceremony for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021.
The ceremony for the 2020 class, which includes Tomjanovich, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally scheduled for August 2020.
The event will now be held on May 13-15, 2021, at the Mohegan Sun entertainment complex in Connecticut. The Hall of Fame’s press release says this complex can operate as a “near bubble,” which indicates their intent to move forward with these dates without further delays.
The May 2021 ceremony will be exclusive to the delayed 2020 class, and it will not be merged with the separate 2021 Hall of Fame class.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Reschedules Class of 2020 Enshrinement to May 2021 at @MoheganSun. #20HoopClass
In his 11-plus seasons as head coach in Houston, Tomjanovich led the Rockets to a 503-397 (.559) regular-season record and a 51-39 (.567) mark in the NBA playoffs, headlined by two championships in 1994 and 1995. He is by far the winningest coach in franchise history.
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Besides his coaching allocades, Tomjanovich was also a dynamic player — with averages of 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He was a five-time All-Star at power forward over 11 NBA seasons.
When ‘Rudy T’ is inducted, he has enlisted Rockets legends Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon to formally present him at the ceremony.
“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!” Rudy Tomjanovich and Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets clinched a second title on June 14, 1995.
On this day 25 years ago, the 1994-95 Rockets finished off what could be the toughest path to a championship in NBA history.
NBA Finals MVP Hakeem Olajuwon led Houston in Game 4 versus Orlando with 35 points and 15 rebounds, sending “Clutch City” to a 113-101 home victory (box score) on June 14, 1995 and securing a series sweep.
Mario Elie chipped in with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting (81.8%) from the field, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers (66.7%). All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway each scored 25 for the Magic.
HoopsHype has more on the historic journey by the sixth-seeded Rockets to a second consecutive NBA crown.
“According to research in which we looked at every team’s path to their eventual championship wins, the 1994-95 Rockets had the toughest road ever to winning a title,” they write. “The worst team they beat had a 57-25 record, and that was their Finals opponent, the Orlando Magic, who boasted a lineup featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, amongst many valuable role players.” The HoopsHype story adds:
On top of that, the Rockets won four series without having home-court advantage, an almost impossible feat to even fathom, let alone pull off. Houston’s road was made that tough due to the fact that they went 47-35 that regular season, a disappointing campaign prior to the playoffs. The Rockets beat two teams in the Utah Jazz (60-22) and the San Antonio Spurs (62-20) that won at least 60 games, and a third, the Phoenix Suns (59-23) that came within one win of reaching that benchmark.
Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets had arguably the toughest path to an NBA title ever. https://t.co/7IoNDLLbjm
A road that featured the aforementioned Shaq-and-Penny duo, along with Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, that year’s regular-season MVP in David Robinson, who Olajuwon made look very foolish during their matchup, and John Stockton and Karl Malone, there’s no questioning just how tough the Rockets had it during their second title run, and how well-earned their championship was.
It also served as the long awaited championship for future Hall of Fame guard Clyde Drexler, who had 15 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the decisive Game 4. Drexler was acquired by the Rockets in a bold move at the February 1995 trade deadline in exchange for power forward Otis Thorpe, who had played a key role in Houston’s 1993-94 title.
In all, the 1995 run can be summed up perfectly by the postgame quote that night from legendary head coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
“Don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion!”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony for the 2020 class — including former Rockets coach ‘Rudy T’ — will be delayed to 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated limitations on large gatherings, the scheduled 2020 enshrinement ceremony for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will be delayed until 2021.
The event had been slated for August 28-30 at the Hall of Fame site in Springfield, Massachusetts. Besides former Rockets coach and player Rudy Tomjanovich, other inductees in the 2020 class include recent NBA All-Stars Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and the late Kobe Bryant.
Jerry Colangelo, chairman of the Hall of Fame Board of Governors, told ESPN that there will be separate ceremonies for the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021, even though both events now will be held in the calendar year 2021. “We won’t be combining them,” Colangelo said in a statement to ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. “The Class of 2020 is a very special class and deserves its own celebration.”
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony for Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will be pushed to 2021, ESPN's Jackie MacMullan reports. https://t.co/o1MnULa6PG
In his 11-plus seasons as head coach in Houston, Tomjanovich led the Rockets to a 503-397 (.559) regular-season record and a 51-39 (.567) mark in the NBA playoffs, headlined by two championships in 1994 and 1995. He is by far the winningest coach in franchise history.
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Besides his coaching allocades, Tomjanovich was also a dynamic player — with averages of 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 33.5 minutes per game. He was a five-time All-Star at power forward over 11 NBA seasons.
Whenever ‘Rudy T’ is inducted, he has enlisted Rockets legends Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon to formally present him at the ceremony.
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Rudy Tomjanovich didn’t know his Hall of Fame enshrinement had been delayed until AP asked his reaction. He said, “It’s no big deal. I am not surprised. How could they have it when people are still dying from the virus? It would put so many people in jeopardy.”
Several Houston legends had kind words Friday for the late Jerry Sloan, who coached against the Rockets in several classic playoff series.
Legendary Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan, who led the team from 1988 until 2011, passed away Friday due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 78 years old.
Sloan ranks fourth on the NBA’s all-time coaching list with 1,221 regular-season wins, and sixth in the playoff history with 98 wins. He’s one of only two coaches in league history to record 1,000 wins with one club.
Sloan coached for one team longer than anyone in NBA history, and he led the Jazz to 15 straight playoff appearances from 1989 through 2003 (including two Western Conference titles in 1997 and 1998). He’s one of only four coaches in history with 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record, joining Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley, and Phil Jackson.
The Jazz and Rockets have long been rivals, and six of Sloan’s postseason trips (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008) featured playoff series between Utah and Houston. None ended in sweeps, and in five of the six series, the losing team still won at least two games.
Houston defeated Utah on its way to a pair of NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, and the Jazz returned the favor on their way to the first NBA Finals trips in franchise history in 1997 and 1998.
Though the playoff battles were intense, Sloan clearly earned the respect of Houston’s players, as he did throughout the NBA. Here’s a sampling of Friday’s reactions from the Rockets organization, both past and present.
Rudy Tomjanovich on the late Jerry Sloan: “He was a good guy, no nonsense.What you see is what you get.He coached the way he played. His teams reflected his blue-collar mentality. I felt a little bit of a bond with him.I was there in New Orleans (as a #Rockets ass’t, scouting)..” pic.twitter.com/5oWQ3IOrCn
.@LAClippers ass’t coach Sam Cassell, who won two championships with the #Rockets, with some thoughts on the late Jerry Sloan: “Coach Sloan was a joy to compete against. His teams were always prepared to win. We just had some better teams & some better luck against those guys..” pic.twitter.com/HnabSsWkG0
RIP #JerrySloan .. one of the greats! No player achieves greatness without great coaching. john Stockton projected as a good little backup and Karl Malone as a quality power forward before meeting Sloan and became Alltime greats! RIP
Kenny Smith (@TheJetOnTNT) agrees with Rudy Tomjanovich, #Rockets beating the late Jerry Sloan’s @utahjazz in the playoffs n 1994 & 1995 makes those titles even more special: “100%.They were always the most difficult foe.We knew if we lost to them they could win the championship”
I grew up admiring this man as @chicagobulls. I remember standing by him during a game talking smack he just laughed and said “good game Eddie” He knew it was all gamesmanship and not personal. I wanted to play for him after that exchange. RIP Jerry you were the best! @utahjazzpic.twitter.com/Ow7D9h2sy0
Rudy Tomjanovich on the late Jerry Sloan: “He was a good guy, no nonsense.What you see is what you get.He coached the way he played. His teams reflected his blue-collar mentality. I felt a little bit of a bond with him.I was there in New Orleans (as a #Rockets ass’t, scouting)..” pic.twitter.com/5oWQ3IOrCn
It was 25 years ago today when Mario Elie sank the most iconic shot in Houston Rockets history to clinch Game 7 at Phoenix.
Known best as the “Kiss of Death,” this Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the most famous shot in Houston Rockets franchise history, courtesy of three-time NBA champion Mario Elie.
On May 20, 1995, Elie hit a corner 3-pointer with under 10 seconds left in Game 7 at Phoenix. The legendary shot broke a tie and lifted the Rockets to victory in the game (box score) and the Western Conference semifinal series, which they had previously trailed by a 3-1 margin.
Led by Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson, the Suns (59-23) were much better than Houston (47-35) in the 1994-95 regular season. But true to their nickname, “Clutch City” was a different beast in the playoffs. And just a few weeks later, those Rockets secured their second straight NBA championship. (Elie captured his third title in 1999 with San Antonio.)
The Phoenix shot is perhaps best remembered for what occurred right after it, with Elie blowing a kiss in the direction of the home bench. The Suns never had a realistic shot to tie the game after Elie’s make, with head coach Rudy Tomjanovich opting to foul the Suns with a 3-point lead.
— Now or Never ESPN (@noworneverespn) May 15, 2020
In a story on the shot’s 20th anniversary, Elie told the Houston Chronicle that the kiss was gestured at backup Suns center Joe Kleine. Elie said:
He started that in Game 5. It started as fun, but I got the last kiss. It was just emotion, friendly competition, and us going at each other for the second year in a row.
It was a somewhat risky play by Elie on multiple levels. With the shot clock off, Tomjanovich ideally wanted the Rockets to take the game’s last shot, so that the worst-case scenario was overtime. Because Elie shot early, a miss would likely have allowed the Suns a shot to win in regulation.
Those Rockets also had two future Hall of Famers on the court in Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. On paper, one of those two would seem be the preferred option in a late-game scenario. But Elie was open after a cross-court pass by Robert Horry, and he fired without hesitation.
“Robert threw a high pass, and I had to jump to get it,” Elie said. “But I had time to gather myself and get a great look at the basket.”
Olajuwon and Drexler each had 29 points in the victory, which was just the fifth time in NBA history that a road team had won a Game 7. But it was the final shot of an 8-point outing by a veteran role player — known best for his defense and toughness — that the game is best remembered for.
“My kids don’t think the old man could play,” Elie told the Houston Chroniclein 2015. “I can show them on video that I was pretty good.”
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25th anniversary of the Mario Elie (@marioelie1) Kiss of Death when Mario’s three in the final 20 seconds helped the #Rockets beat the Suns in game seven of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals in Phoenix. pic.twitter.com/4jO0J0Tv4q
With “The Last Dance” ongoing, the Houston Rockets posted two more videos reminding fans of their success versus the 1990s Chicago Bulls.
With the 1990s Chicago Bulls back in the national spotlight thanks to the premiere of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, the Houston Rockets continue to utilize social media channels to defend their legacy as the NBA’s only champion outside of Chicago from 1991 through 1998.
Specifically, the Rockets are pushing back on the popular notion from some fans that their titles were largely due to the 18-month retirement by legendary Bulls guard Michael Jordan, which began in October 1993.
Prior to Jordan’s retirement, Houston went 5-1 against the Bulls in six regular-season meetings during Chicago’s three championship seasons from 1991 through 1993. The Rockets had yet to reach their peak, so they never made it through the Western Conference to meet the Bulls in those NBA Finals. But they clearly viewed it as a favorable matchup, as evidenced by their latest two video compilations.
Unfortunately for NBA fans, the Bulls never made it through the East in the two seasons that Houston won the West — including in 1995, when Jordan had unretired in March. The Bulls lost to Orlando in the semi-finals, and the Magic were later swept by Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets.
In the earlier regular-season meetings when Jordan played, Chicago’s nondescript centers such as Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley offered little resistance to Olajuwon. By contrast, many of the teams the Bulls defeated in the NBA Finals — such as Charles Barkley’s Phoenix Suns, Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz, and Shawn Kemp’s Seattle Sonics — lacked the offensive production at center to challenge the Bulls at their weakest position.
Olajuwon clearly earned Jordan’s respect, as evidenced by Jordan selecting the Houston legend for his all-time NBA team. Recently, former Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich shared a story in which Jordan told him that Houston was the team that gave the Bulls the most trouble.
“He gave our team great respect,” Tomjanovich told The Athletic. “He didn’t feel that they could contain Hakeem [Olajuwon]. They just didn’t have the personnel to do it. And he said he thought we were the team that gave them the most trouble.”
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One popular theory is that Jordan was “rusty” in the 1995 playoffs after only playing in 17 regular-season games. But that’s not shown in the data. Jordan averaged more points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks per game in the 1995 playoffs than he did in the 1996 playoffs (when Chicago won the title), all on superior shooting from the field.
Ultimately, the Rockets and Bulls peaked at different times, and NBA fans never got to see the matchup in the playoffs. As it is, though, the 1990s Rockets are happy with their two titles — and they remain ready to push back against any fans trying to diminish their accomplishments.
Fortunately for Houston, it appears that even Jordan himself acknowledges that the Rockets have a valid argument.
Over their 53 years in existence, the Rockets are among the NBA’s most successful franchises by nearly any metric.
Houston ranks in the league’s all-time Top 10 in wins and winning percentage by franchise. They’ve won the NBA Finals on multiple occasions (1994, 1995) and the Western Conference four different times, along with seven division titles and 33 total playoff appearances.
Individual greatness has largely driven their team success. The Rockets have had three players win MVP in a Houston uniform (Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, James Harden), and they’ve had 62 total All-Star selections. They have six retired numbers, with Olajuwon and Malone joined by Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich, Clyde Drexler, and Yao Ming.
All are among the 12 Hall of Famers to have played for the Rockets, and recent stars such as Harden, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard will further add to that list in the years ahead. But of all those NBA legends, who has had the greatest individual season of all? Rockets Wire aims to answer that question, with your help.
Methodology: In an effort to be as neutral as possible, the 16 seedings are ranked by Win Shares, as listed on Basketball Reference. These Win Shares are based on statistics during each regular season, rather than the playoffs. However, if you’d like to add playoff performance in that year to your criteria, that’s absolutely your prerogative! The suspended 2019-20 season is not included, as we hope it resumes at some point.
Without further delay, let the balloting begin. First-round voting will continue until Wednesday night. Vote early and often!
First round: 2014-15 James Harden vs. 2004-05 Tracy McGrady
No. 1 seed: 2014-15 James Harden: 27.4 points (44.0% FG, 37.5% 3-pointers), 7.0 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 steals per game
Harden’s 2014-15 season is perhaps best remembered for how he picked up the slack for issues around him. Co-star Dwight Howard missed 41 games in the regular season, and starters Pat Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas each had their seasons end early due to injury. Veteran castoffs like Pablo Prigioni and Jason Terry were thrust into key roles.
Nonetheless, largely due to Harden’s leadership, the often shorthanded Rockets still went 56-26 in the regular season and earned the No. 2 seed in the West. They won Houston’s first division title in 21 years, and then advanced in the playoffs to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals in 18 years. Harden posted 4.2 defensive win shares that year, which remains the most of his career, and his 61.8% true shooting percentage is the second-highest of Harden’s eight seasons in Houston.
After the 2014-15 season concluded, “The Beard” was voted by fellow NBA players as the league’s MVP.
Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
No. 16 seed: 2004-05 Tracy McGrady: 25.7 points (43.1% FG, 32.6% 3-pointers), 6.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.7 steals per game
Considering that back and knee issues limited McGrady’s prime, it probably isn’t a surprise that McGrady’s best year in Houston was his first one. McGrady’s 78 games played were by far the most of any of his six seasons played in Houston, and his scoring average and efficiency marks were at or near the top of his Houston tenure, too.
Led by McGrady, the Rockets improved by six games (45-37 to 51-31) in the Western Conference standings and moved up from the No. 7 seed to No. 5. They lost in seven games in the first round to rival Dallas.
