Tilman Fertitta: Absence of fans lessens impact of Rockets’ lost season

“If you were ever going to do something, this was the year, because there are so few fans,” Fertitta told CNBC’s Power Lunch.

The Houston Rockets entered the 2020-21 NBA season with the league’s longest active streak of eight consecutive playoff berths. Over the last four years, they were the only team in the Western Conference to win at least one playoff series in each postseason.

But thanks to the forced departure of superstar guard James Harden, that stretch of excellent basketball is almost certainly coming to an end this season. At 13-33, the Rockets entered Tuesday with the West’s second-worst record, and they’re poised to finish 2020-21 with a losing mark for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Nonetheless, at least from a business perspective, there are some silver linings. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ticket sales are dramatically reduced for all NBA franchises — regardless of how good or bad the team is. Thus, the Rockets aren’t at the same financial disadvantage, relative to other teams, that they would in a normal season.

In an appearance on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” owner Tilman Fertitta was asked whether he had any regrets regarding the Harden trade, and if the resulting struggles had led to a decline in sponsorships or ticket sales.

Fertitta responded:

Not really. Remember, if you were ever going to do something, this was the year, because there are so few fans.

I’m happy for James. As a franchise, we did everything we could do in the last five years to win a championship. When you go all-out for five years, then you’re going to have a couple of bad years. We hope it’s just one bad year.

We’ve got so many draft picks, already. And don’t forget, we were decimated by injuries. We were the most injured team in the history of the NBA this year. What it is, is what it is. You pay the price for what you tried to do yesterday.

Fertitta’s goal of limiting the “bad years” to one or two seasons is in line with Monday’s comments by general manager Rafael Stone. After citing a “young core” of Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, and KJ Martin, Stone said he believes the Rockets do not need an extended “tank strategy” (of intentionally losing in hopes of accumulating high draft picks) in order to regain their status as a title contender.

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