Houston Rockets Retired Numbers
The Houston Rockets have retired 7 numbers. Each one below records who wore it, the seasons they wore it, and what earned it a place in the rafters.
Back to Houston RocketsYao Ming
2002-2011
The Houston Rockets retired Yao Ming's jersey #11 on February 3, 2017, the same night they retired Calvin Murphy's #23. Selected first overall in the 2002 NBA Draft after leading the Shanghai Sharks to a CBA championship, the 7-foot-6 center spent eight seasons in Houston, where he made eight All-Star Game appearances, scored 9,247 points, and pulled down 4,494 rebounds.
Why #11 was retiredJames Harden
2012-2021
When the Houston Rockets acquired James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder in October 2012, they sent Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, and three draft picks for a player who had been the Thunder's Sixth Man of the Year. The price looked steep then and a bargain ever since. Harden became the most dangerous offensive weapon Houston had seen since Hakeem Olajuwon, averaging more than 20 points in each of his eight Rockets seasons and 29 or more in four of them.
Why #13 was retiredClyde Drexler
1995-1998
Clyde Drexler's #22 hangs in the Toyota Center rafters not only because of what he accomplished in Houston but because of what his arrival represented: the kid from Sterling High School who starred at the University of Houston on the legendary Phi Slama Jama teams alongside Hakeem Olajuwon, became one of the best players of his generation in Portland, and came home in the middle of his prime to win a championship.
Why #22 was retiredCalvin Murphy
1970-1983
Calvin Murphy was not supposed to succeed in the NBA. He stood 5 feet 9 inches in a league of giants and was passed over in the early rounds of the 1970 draft despite being the greatest college player Niagara had ever produced. What followed was one of the most improbable career arcs in basketball history: thirteen seasons, all with Houston, 17,949 points, and a place in the Hall of Fame.
Why #23 was retiredMoses Malone
1976-1982
Moses Malone never went to college. He went straight from Petersburg High School in Virginia to the ABA's Utah Stars in 1974 — the first player to make that jump directly — and played professional basketball for twenty-one years. Born March 23, 1955, he had averaged 36 points and 26 rebounds as a high school senior before turning pro at 18.
Why #24 was retiredHakeem Olajuwon
1984-2001
November 9, 2002. Hakeem Olajuwon, thirty-nine years old and one season removed from a final, quiet year in Toronto, signed a one-day contract so that he could retire as a Houston Rocket. There was no farewell tour, no fadeaway at the buzzer to close the book. Just a man in a suit, standing where The Summit's hardwood used to be, ending the career of the most complete center the sport has ever produced.
Why #34 was retiredRudy Tomjanovich
1970-1981 / Coach
The Houston Rockets retired Rudy Tomjanovich's #45 at the end of the 1982-83 season, his last as a player. Selected second overall by San Diego in the 1970 Draft, Tomjanovich moved with the franchise to Houston and over eleven seasons made five All-Star appearances while averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. On December 9, 1977, a punch from Kermit Washington fractured his skull and nearly killed him; doctors were certain he would never play again.
Why #45 was retired