Houston Rockets fans have seen some of the best (and biggest) players in NBA history. Some of these players were the first to bring an NBA title to the Lone Star State, while others simply dominated and entertained in their era. But who are the best and greatest Rockets players in history? We’ll try to figure that out here with the all-time top-10 Rockets player rankings.
These all-time top-10 Rockets player rankings are based on what the players did in a Rockets uniform and how they contributed to the franchise. So, while Chris Paul is a top-75 player in NBA history, his two seasons with the Rockets don’t put him on this list.
With apologies to some of the near-misses for this list, like Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Steve Francis, here are the 10 greatest Rockets players in team history, ranked.
10. Tracy McGrady
T-Mac is a Hall of Fame player who had his best seasons with the Orlando Magic, where he won two scoring titles. However, for six seasons in Houston, Tracy McGrady was one of the best players in the league, even though playoff success never came.
McGrady moved to Houston at 25 and ended up averaging 22.7 points, 5.6 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.
Rockets history is filled with famous duos, many of whom are on this list together. And for the better part of a decade, McGrady and Yao Ming made up one of the best duos in the franchise’s illustrious past.
9. Rudy Tomjanovich
This is a greatest Rockets players rankings list. It’s not a list of the most important figures in Rockets history or the best coaches ever. If it was one of those types of lists, Rudy Tomjanovich would no doubt be at or near the top.
That said, even as a strictly best Rockets players list, Rudy T still ends up pretty darn high.
Even fans who came of age during Tomjanovich’s 12-year tenure as Rockets head coach may not realize that he was a fantastic player for the team in his own right. The San Diego took Tomjanovich No. 2 overall out of Michigan in 1970, and he rewarded the organization by helping lead their move to Texas in 1971.
In his 11-year playing career, Rudy T averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. But the most fascinating piece of Tomjanovich’s career is what he could have been if he wasn’t on the receiving end of a life-threatening Kermit Washington cheap shot punch in 1977.
8. Clyde Drexler
Like Tracy McGrady and several other players below, Clyde Drexler will go down in history as a member of another NBA franchise. “The Glide” played a dozen seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, doing battle with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals to no avail.
At 32, Drexler accepted a trade to the Rockets, and his career and legacy changed dramatically.
With MJ out playing baseball, the Rockets won back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995. His pairing with his Houston Cougars college teammate, Hakeem Olajuwon, might be the best duo in Rockets history, as the team was a sort of Super Friends situation for players who could never beat the Bulls.
Those Rockets teams did beat the Patrick Ewing and John Starks New York Knicks and the Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway Orlando Magic, so it was no easy feat winning those trophies.
That’s why Drexler deserves credit for averaging 19.0 points 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.9 steals even in his 30s, and for bringing NBA gold to Houston.
7. Ralph Sampson
While there are a lot of “what if?” questions surrounding Rudy Tomjanovich’s career, Ralph Sampson might be the NBA leader in that category.
One of the greatest college players in history, the 7-foot-4 Sampson was the No. 1 pick of the 1983 NBA draft (13 spots ahead of Clyde Drexler, ironically). A year later, the franchise again had the top pick and took Olajuwon.
The duo, dubbed the “Twin Towers,” was supposed to revolutionize the NBA. Olajuwon did that in many ways, becoming one of the best post players in not just Rockets but league history. Sampson won the 1984 Rookie of the Year Award, averaged over 20 points per game and 10 rebounds in his first two seasons, and made the All-Star game in his first four.
However, injuries started in his third season and eventually took their toll, sapping his unique athleticism and skill. Sampson left Houston after five seasons of averaging 19.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. And while that is good, it’s not all-time great.
6. Yao Ming
After the Twin Towers era of the 7-foot Olajuwon and the 7-foot-4 Sampson, the Rockets got the No. 1 pick yet again in 2002 and took 7-foot-6 Chinese sensation, Yao Ming.
Like Sampson, the story of Yao Ming’s career is that he was just too tall to have a long, healthy pro career. But the big man from China held it together better than his Rockets predecessor. The eight-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player only missed two games in his first three seasons.
After that, the injuries (mostly with his feet) started, and he only played over 57 games in a season one more time. But all those seasons were good for the giant center. Yao Ming retired averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 32.5 minutes per game. And his battles with some of the last traditional centers, like Shaq, were epic.
Yao was also the victim of a changing game. By the time he retired in 2011, the pace-and-space era was underway, and a 7-foot-6 center no longer had a place.
5. Elvin Hayes
Elvin Hayes was yet another No. 1 overall pick for the franchise, albeit for the Sa Diego version in 1968. He played seven seasons for the Rockets, three for San Diego and one for Houston initially, and then three more for Houston at the end of his career.
In his first four seasons, he averaged over 25 points per game, including winning the scoring title as a rookie with 28.4 points per game. His late-career incarnation wasn’t as successful, but he finished his time as a Rocket with 20.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. He also missed just two games in his time there.
The Big E is one of the best players in NBA history, and his four All-Star selections make him one of the best Rockets players in franchise history.
4. Calvin Murphy
Unlike most players on this list, Calvin Murphy was a Rocket for his entire career and one of the shortest players in NBA history at 5-foot-9.
The Niagara product was a second-round pick, and his career was much more of a surprise than all the top selections in this list. Even with little (no pun intended) expectations, Murphy averaged 17.9 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.5 steals in his career.
Murphy was quick, tough, and physical, especially for his size. He was also the franchise’s leading scorer until Olajuwon broke his record in 1994. Murphy also retired with the most consecutive free throws made (78) and the highest free throw percentage (89.2%), although both those records no longer stand.
3. James Harden
The most recent addition to the greatest Rockets players list is James Harden. His time in Houston didn’t end well, but when he was on “The Beard” was one of the most feared scorers in history.
Harden got to Houston from Oklahoma City in 2012 and went to work to make this list. Over the course of nine seasons, Harden averaged 29.6 points, 7.7 assists, 1.8 steals, and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 36.2% from 3-point range and taking 10.4 free throws per game.
The Arizona State product won the assists title (11.2 per game) in 2017 and the scoring title in 2018 (30.4 ppg), 2019 (36.1 ppg), and 2020 (34.4 ppg). He won the NBA MVP Award in ’18 and made the All-Star Game every season in Houston. That puts him in the top three of these Rockets player rankings for sure.
2. Moses Malone
Moses Malone played for nine NBA teams in his career and won a title with the Philadelphia 76ers, so that is the team he is most associated with. However, his longest tenure was six seasons with the Rockets early in his career.
During that time, he averaged more points (24.0), rebounds (15.0), and blocks (1.6) than at any other stop along the way. He made five All-Star teams for the Rockets and led the league in rebounding in 1979 (17.6 rpg), 1981 (14.8 rpg), and 1982 (14.7 rpg).
In 1981-82, his final season in Houston, Malone averaged a staggering 42.0 minutes per game and played 81 of 82 contests. The year prior, Malone — along with Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich — took the franchise to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance, losing to Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics.
1. Hakeem Olajuwon
“The Dream” played 17 of his 18 NBA seasons with Houston, winning two championships and going down as the greatest Rockets player in team history.
In addition to bringing his franchise two trophies, Hakeem Olajuwon also won plenty of hardware of his own. Olajuwon retired as a 12-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA player, two-time rebounding champ, three-time blocks champ, two-time NBA Finals MVP, and the 1993-94 NBA MVP.
The numbers are off the charts, too. Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 3.2 blocks per game. He is also the franchise leader in games, minutes played, field goals, field goal attempts, 2-pt field goals, 2-pt field goal attempts, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, steals, blocks, blocks per game, win shares, defensive win shares, and points.
Add all that to the championships, and there is no doubt that, no matter what your definition, Hakeem Olajuwon is the Rockets’ best and greatest player in team history.
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