List of Houston Rockets head coaches

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. They are a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They have played their home games at Toyota Center since 2003. Founded by Robert Breitbard in San Diego, the team first joined the NBA in 1967 as an expansion team.[1] After four losing seasons,[2] however, the team was sold to a group of investors based in Houston.[1] The group subsequently relocated the team to Houston, where the Rockets have remained for 37 seasons.[2] The franchise won its only two NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.[3]

There have been 15 head coaches for the Houston Rockets franchise. Jack McMahon, the team's first head coach, compiled a 61–129 record during his tenure.[4] Rudy Tomjanovich, who led the Rockets to their two championships, is the franchise's all-time leader in both regular-season and playoff games coached and wins.[5][3] Alex Hannum, Tex Winter, Kevin McHale, Bill Fitch, Rudy Tomjanovich and Rick Adelman have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[6] Tom Nissalke, Don Chaney and Mike D'Antoni were named Coach of the Year during their tenures as head coaches. Both Tex Winter and Johnny Egan have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Rockets.[7][8][9] Egan, Tomjanovich, and Rick Adelman formerly played for the Rockets.[10][11][12]

  1. ^ a b "Owners, fans waited years before Rockets took off". Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers. September 20, 2001. Archived from the original on May 4, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Houston Rockets". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2004. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Rudy Tomjanovich Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  4. ^ "Jack McMahon Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 2, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  5. ^ "Houston Rockets Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
  6. ^ "Alex Hannum Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  7. ^ "Tex Winter Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  8. ^ "Johnny Egan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  9. ^ "Tom Nissalke Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  10. ^ "Johnny Egan Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  11. ^ "Rudy Tomjanovich Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  12. ^ "Rick Adelman Statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2008.