The Rockets are still in search of who their star players are going to be, but someone on this team will also have to fill the role that these five played to perfection.
The “Dog Days of Summer” are inching closer to an end. The draft has come, it’s gone and Summer League has passed. Now that the flames of the 2024-2025 season schedule release are embers, and all the speculation has been covered from every angle, how about you all let the old head amongst the crew give you a history lesson about some former players in Houston Rockets recent history that the likes of a Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr, or a Reed Sheppard would do well to study.
(The really old heads may be upset that I chose the last 30 years, but that’s because those are the years I personally followed the Rockets and was also capable of feeding myself.)
The Rockets have had many star players, and many Hall of Fame players. However these five players played a critical role in the successes of their respective teams that I believe is necessary for every team with aspirations of being great.
(Shout out to Craig Rouse for the article suggestion from the Houston Sports State of the Union Podcast Facebook Fan Group Page, “Houston Sports Nation”)
5. Dikembe Mutombo
Mutombo played 18 seasons in the NBA. He is an eight-time All-Star, four-time DPOY, and three-time All-NBA. However, when he signed with the Rockets in 2004, he was brought in to back up the Rockets young All-Star Yao Ming. It was expected at the time that he would be the perfect defensive anchor during Yao’s resting periods, and he did prove to be that. But, as we know, Yao Ming’s time in the league would be plagued by injury, and Mutombo, along with Chuck Hayes, would be thrust into much more critical roles. None more-so than in the 2007-2008 season.
Ten games into what would eventually be a 22-game win streak, Yao Ming suffered a stress fracture in his left foot, and Dikembe (nearly 42 years old at the time) would see his minutes go from less than 10 a game to over 20 per game, and he was thrust into the starting lineup. Up to that point in the season. Mutombo’s role was that of a vocal veteran leader on the bench, but for the remainder of the season his role on the court became essential.
Grabbing rebounds, altering and blocking shots, waving his finger to the crowd with each swat, sending Toyota Center into a frenzy! Dikembe turned back the clock momentarily with his gutsy performances, not only during the win streak but all the way into the playoffs, where he averaged nearly 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 20 minutes per game.
Although Dikembe never saw the Rockets win a playoff series while on the court, he was an essential part of one of the greatest regular seasons in Rockets history and one of the greatest veteran leaders the team has ever had, on and off the court.
4. P.J. Tucker
The story of P.J. Tuckers impact on the Houston Rockets for the four seasons he was in Houston won’t be found on the traditional stat sheet. In 31.8 mpg he averaged 6.5 ppg, 5.8 rebounds, and shot 39.7 percent from the field. Despite Tucker not lighting up the scoreboard, he was a +755 plus-minus for his entire stint as a Rocket an average of +188 per season.
His presence defensively made him a player that Mike D’Antoni, who’s teams were notorious for not really prioritizing defense, had to keep on the floor despite the fact that it was not uncommon for Tucker not to record a single point, sometimes not even taking a shot.
His toughness and grit saw him taking on the other teams’ best offensive player more times than not, even when it was a size mismatch down low. He was a major catalyst in the Rockets’ improvement to the fifth-ranked defense in the NBA in his first season with the team, compared to the 15th-ranked defense the season prior.
He wasn’t a complete waste on offense. In the 2018 playoffs that saw the Rockets lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Golden State Warriors, Tucker shot 46.4 percent from three-point range, the majority of those made shots coming from the corners. He guarded everyone in that series from Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, to Draymond Green and Kevon Looney.
It’s no surprise that when Tucker’s tenure with the Rockets came to a close and he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Bucks would go on to win the NBA Championship over his former Rockets teammate Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns. Tucker was the embodiment of someone who played with “the heart of a champion.”
3. Eric Gordon
The argument could be made that Eric Gordon is the best role player / sixth man in Rockets history. But, on the list of “most impactful” I am placing him third. With Eric Gordon’s career being mired by injury early on, it made his acquisition in 2016 a low risk / high reward move, and it paid off immediately. Eric Gordon won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2017, a year where his teammate Lou Williams was the first runner-up for the award.
In his career as a Rocket, Gordon averaged 15.7 ppg on 42.1 percent FG shooting, and 36 percent from three. He was a very underrated defensive player in his time as a Rocket as well, as he was a key reason, along with P.J. Tucker and Trevor Ariza, that the Rockets were able to switch everything on defense and frustrate their opponents. Eric was also a relentless attacker of the basket at times, and able to finish in traffic with his strength. Eric Gordon was arguably the third best player on the best Rockets team to never win a championship.
2. Vernon Maxwell
When you think Houston Rockets there are the inevitable players that will come to mind. Hakeem, T-Mac, Yao, Francis, Malone, Murphy, Tomjanovich, etc. But if you ask any Rockets fan over the last 30 years who are some of their most beloved Rockets, you will no doubt hear the name Vernon Maxwell mentioned. If you were a Rockets fan in the early ‘90s then you knew that Hakeem Olajuwon was option one, two, and three for the Rockets at that time. However, the next option whenever the Rockets had to have a bucket was “Mad Max.”
Max was fearless, relentless, and as even he would admit, a little bit “crazy.” But he was a competitor who would not be pushed around and would not let his teammates be pushed around either. In the NBA of the ‘90s, a championship team needed to have a Vernon Maxwell. An enforcer who could change the course of a game just with their energy and grit.
In the 1994-1995 NBA Playoffs, Maxwell averaged 14.1 ppg, 3.9 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. Most memorable probably being his 21-point performance in Game Seven of the NBA Finals, where with under two minutes remaining, he hit a dagger three-point shot on an assist from Hakeem that put the Rockets up by eight points and garnered one of the greatest on-air celebration calls from the late and great Gene Peterson.
Vernon’s legacy no doubt has some controversy. In the 1994-1995 season he was suspsended for 10 games for entering the stands and punching a fan in Portland and later walked away from the team over frustrations for what he perceived as a slight, when they brought in Clyde Drexler via trade. In the years since, Maxwell has expressed regret over the way he left the Rockets, and fans can’t help but wonder — what if he had stayed and figured out a way to play in his role alongside Drexler on the team? Perhaps they would have been better positioned the following season to win a third title in as many years.
Regardless, Vernon Maxwell is still beloved in the city he helped earn the moniker of “Clutch City” and in my humble opinion is the second most impactful “role player” for the Rockets since the ‘90s.
1. Robert Horry
My last article didn’t receive as much backlash as I expected, but with this one I may not get so lucky. As always I ask that you hear me out.
Robert Horry only played four seasons with the Rockets and avereged about 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was never a Sixth Man winner, nor did he even recieve any votes for the award. To put it plainly, Robert Horry is number one on this list for one reason: his play in the 1995 NBA Finals.
Going against the young and immensely talented Orlando Magic that featured Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, and NBA vet and champion Horace Grant, the Rockets needed someone other than Hakeem and Clyde to step up big, The man who would come to be known as “Big Shot Bob” delivered. He averaged 17.8 points, 10 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game IN THE FINALS.
Not only did he put up numbers, but he was incredibly efficient by the standard of the time. No doubt assisted by the NBA moving the three-point line in form 23 feet 9 inches (22 feet in the corners) to a standard 22 feet around the basket, he shot 37.9 percent from three in the series. Were it not for a poor shooting performance in Game Two, he would have shot north of 40 percent.
Robert Horry played like a Hall of Fame player for the Rockets on their way to sweeping the Magic and beating their fourth 50-win opponent in their historical postseason run that year. He was no slouch in the WCF that year either.
Although he would not go on to become a star, those NBA Finals laid the foundation of him becoming one of the league’s most clutch players of all-time. Considering the result of his clutch play for the Rockets in one of their greatest seasons ever, I am crowing him the most impactful role player in Rockets history.
Conclusion
Every great team needs role players who step their game up in the big moments. It’s yet to be seen who will be those role players on the current roster, but I believe that any one of them would do well if they could come close to the impact of the five players on this list. I look very much forward to debating the list with all of you in the comments. Allow me first to list my honorable mentions.
Honorable Mentions