The NBA team Houston Rockets are based out of Houston, Texas and play in the Western Conference’s Southwest Division as part of the National Basketball Association. The Rockets were formed in 1967. They played for four years in San Diego, CA before moving to Houston.

During the debut season of the Rockets, the team only won 15 games. However in 1969, after they drafted Elvin Hayes as the first overall pick out of NBA’s 1969 draft, they made it into the playoffs for the first time. After trading Hayes, they acquired Moses Malone as his replacement. While with the Rockets, Malone won two MVP awards. In Malone’s first year in Houston, he helped lead the Rockets into the conference finals. In 1981, Houston made it into the NBA Finals. However the Boston Celtics defeated them In six games.

The Rockets in 1984 drafted Hakeem Olajuwon, a future Hall of Fame player. In Olajuwon’s second year, he led the Rockets into the 1986 finals. Once again, they lost to the Boston Celtics. Over the following seven seasons, Houston lost five times during the playoffs first round. In 1994, they won their first NBA championship, led by Olajuwon. In 1995, Houston repeated as champions. The Rockets have not advanced into the Finals since. From 1999 to 2003, Houston did not make the playoffs until drafting Yao Ming. They didn’t advance into the playoffs second round again until 2009.