Taking stock of the most memorable coach in the history of the Houston Rockets, swing expert Silas did not make the list!
The Houston Rockets have a rich place in NBA history, having been around since 1967, when the NBA league expanded to 12 teams. The team was founded in San Diego, where it lasted only four seasons, before moving to Texas in 1971 and building the team that fans around the world now know.
Many coaches have played for the Rockets throughout their long history, and here are the most famous coaches of all time for the Houston Rockets, including assistants.
First place: Rudy Tomjanovic
When it comes to the history of the Houston Rockets, no one is more respected than Rudy Tomjanovich. Not only was he a five-time All-Star in the '70s, he also coached the Rockets to NBA championships in 1994 and 1995 during his career with the team.
If you flip through the Houston Rockets record, you'll see Tomjanovich's name constantly popping up, both as one of the team's top five scoring champions and as the team's all-time winning head coach. His number 45 shirt was also the first shirt retired from the team and one of the few to receive the honor.
Second place: Carol Dawson
Rarely can an assistant coach in professional sports be as respected and notorious among the team's fan base as Carol Dawson. The native of Texas was a coach for the Rockets from 1980 to 1996, having served under four different head coaches. That made him one of the first players to reach the NBA Finals and serve as coach on the Rockets. In 1996, the team appointed him general manager as a reward for his leadership on the pitch.
Third place: Winter
During the dynasties of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Tex Winter was one of the most respected and successful NBA assistant coaches in history, but his legendary tenure in the league began in Houston. When the team moved from San Diego in 1971, Winter was named the first head coach in the history of the Houston Rockets. He played less than two full seasons, including a 51-78 overall record, and ended a 10-game losing streak, but he changed the rules of the game and created a triangular offensive tactic that helped build Houston's professional basketball team, even if he never led the team to a winning season.
Fourth place: Tom Nisarko
After moving to Houston, Rockets fans will have to wait nearly a decade to become a championship-storming contender. It all happened in 1977, when Tom Nisark led the team to the Western Conference championship and reached the Finals. Nisark was named NBA Coach of the Year for his outstanding coaching that season, having coached the San Antonio Spurs during his ABA era. He is the first coach on the Rockets to receive this honor and one of only three to receive this honor while leading the team.
Nisark left Houston in 1979 to become the first head coach of the Utah Jazz, thus making greater league history.
Fifth place: Bill Fitch
Prior to the arrival of Rudy Tomjanovich, Bill Fitch had been the most successful coach in the history of the Houston Rockets. The NBA veteran and two-time Coach of the Year won 216 games for the Rockets in five seasons from 1983-1988, making him the first coach of Houston basketball icon Hakim Olajuwon's career.
Fitch led the team to a second NBA Finals in 1986 and was sacked in 1988, although he led the Rockets to the playoffs four times in five years.
Sixth: Mike D'Antoni
Mike D'Antoni's tenure on the Rockets coaching staff has been a frustrating rollercoaster for fans, but no one can say he hasn't made a significant impact on the team during that time. During his time in charge of the team in 2016-2020, D'Antoni achieved a 68.2 percent winning percentage, easily becoming the best of all the Rockets' head coaches, and never kept the team below second in the division.
D'Antoni's teams are offensive and always at the top of the NBA scoring charts, led by future Hall of Famer James Harden. Despite all the points and wins, D'Antoni never made the Rockets into the NBA Finals, making his performance in Houston a timeless one.
Seventh place: Jeff Van Gundy
Today, Jeff Van Gundy works as an NBA broadcaster. He served as head coach of the Houston Rockets for four seasons from 2003-2007 after succeeding Rudy Tomjanovich before ending his long coaching career. Although the Rockets had favorites Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, the team never made it past the first round of the playoffs.
While Van Gundy's performance on the team may have been more disappointing than any coach, he is one of the Rockets' most famous coaches of all time because his basketball talent is developing.
Eighth place: Sampson
The connection between the University of Houston basketball team and the Houston Rockets is fascinating. Two Cougar legends, Hakim Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, have their jersey numbers retired by the Rockets. In 2014, Kevin Sampson took over as head coach of the Houston Cougars and eventually led the team to the 2021 Final Four before serving as assistant coach for the Rockets for the first time. Sampson spent three seasons under Rockets coach Kevin McHale, during which the team made the playoffs twice.
Ninth: Chris Fincher
Kevin Sampson isn't the only famous assistant coach for the Kevin McHale Rockets. The group also included Chris Fincher, who later became the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and was widely credited with turning the team around. Fincher has worked as an assistant on several NBA teams, but has been with the Rockets the longest, assisting multiple head coaches from 2011 to 2016.
