The All-Time Houston Rockets Squad Begins With "The Dream"

a funny twist, plays for the Rockets now, and has become the team's spark without Yao the last two seasons.

Some things do not change.

I would never do 1984 differently, given the chance. That draft order happened for a reason. I believe it. Michael Jordan became the greatest basketball player of all time, but Hakeem is widely regarded, especially by me, as one of the five greatest centers in league history.

Jordan was meant to wear No. 23 in Chicago. Olajuwon was meant to wear No. 34 in Houston. So many Rockets fans forget that Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in the Nigerian center's third season, 1986. Beating the Los Angeles Lakers and losing to the Boston Celtics in a hard fought, six-game series? I'll take it.

Commemorating Hakeem is about more than his signature "Dream Shake," a play that I spent most of my youth trying to copy. It recognizes a special talent who arrived in the United States knowing about 20 words of English. When he arrived at the airport, no one from the University of Houston showed up to greet him. He was not heavily recruited.

He formed the "Phi Slamma Jamma" fraternity with Clyde Drexler and became the immortal face of Cougar basketball. So, the Rockets, handed the first selection in the 1984 draft, made the obvious choice and picked the guy who had already entrenched himself in the Houston community.

And now, in 2008, he serves as the building block of my all-time Rockets team.

 

Starting Lineup

You will note that this five does not have a power forward or a small forward. The Rockets have a rich history of big men but few fours or threes who stand out. The players in my starting five all spent the majority of their careers in Houston. I value Rockets lifers, so those who fit that bill permeate this list.

PG: Kenny "the jet" Smith (1990-1996)

OK, so he is not the best point guard in franchise history. I considered putting Cassell here, but decided to bring him off the pine, just as coach Rudy Tomjanovich did for the '94 and '95 championship teams. Smith had a few verbal altercations with Tomjanovich, but he worked hard and nailed clutch three after clutch three. He played for five other teams, yes, but I will never see Smith as anything other than a Rocket.

 

SG: Calvin Murphy (1970-1983)

Murphy eventually bested the single-season free throw record—94 percent from behind the stripe—set by Rick Barry in 1980 by stroking 95.8 percent of his attempts. He was also a dynamic scorer, swift with the ball, and defended fiercely for his 5'9" frame.

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