Starting on Sunday, April 20, the Rockets will begin what they hope is an extended run in the 2025 NBA playoffs. It will be Houston’s first postseason appearance in five years.
The Rockets last won the NBA title 30 years ago, in 1995, but they have had some painful near-misses over the three decades since.
One of those came in the 2008-09 season, when the Rockets featured a roster headlined by a trio of star talents in Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace).
Unfortunately, McGrady was lost to a season-ending injury before the 2009 playoffs began, and Yao went out with his own season-ending injury midway through a series versus Kobe Bryant and the eventual champion Lakers. Yet, even with both McGrady and Yao unavailable over the final four games of the series, Houston’s team was still elite enough defensively to extend that series to a decisive, winner-take-all Game 7 in Los Angeles.
The coach of that Houston team was eventual Hall of Famer Rick Adelman, whose son, David, is currently the interim head coach of the playoff-bound Denver Nuggets.
When Denver played at Houston in Sunday’s regular-season finale, Rockets Wire spoke with the younger Adelman about his dad’s time in Houston and his thoughts upon returning as a head coach for the first time (for the younger Adelman, it was just his third game in that role).
Among David Adelman’s comments (video via Dave Hardisty, ClutchFans):
It was a special time here, and it was really a downer that they never were healthy. I really firmly believe the (2009) team that lost to the Lakers in seven in the second round, without Yao and without Tracy (McGrady), was a championship team. I really believe that.
I think a lot of people think my dad’s best opportunity to win it was in Sacramento or in Portland. I think deep down, he thinks it was that year. That team, with Artest and (Shane) Battier, and leadership down the line. Kyle Lowry, a young Kyle Lowry. Rafer Alston, you can go on and on and on. Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes. That team was loaded, and they were set up to win the championship.
Unfortunately, and I know this from when we won it two years ago (the Nuggets won the 2023 title with Adelman as an assistant coach): You’ve got to have a lot of luck to win this thing. You’ve got to be great, and you got to be lucky. It was too bad that at all those stops he had, it seemed like there was always something in the way, an injury here or a tipped ball that goes the other way. But yeah, he had a great run here, and that team was extremely fun to watch.
Nuggets coach David Adelman told @BenDuBose that he believes the 2008-09 Rockets, coached by his father Rick Adelman, was a championship team.
“I really firmly believe the team that lost to the Lakers in 7 in the second round, without Yao and without Tracy, was a championship… pic.twitter.com/N7IFyqJ7GB
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) April 13, 2025
It’s quite a statement, considering how close the elder Adelman came to winning it all with the aforementioned Kings and Trail Blazers.
In Sacramento, the 2001-02 Kings led the eventual champion Lakers (who swept the ensuing NBA Finals) by a 3-2 margin in the Western Conference Finals. But the Kings lost the sixth and seventh games, with the sixth coming amid extreme officiating controversy in favor of Los Angeles and the seventh a home loss in overtime.
In Portland, the Trail Blazers lost the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, with the 1991-92 squad pushing Michael Jordan and the eventual champion Chicago Bulls to six games.
Yet, it was that 2008-09 Houston squad — which featured three Hall of Famers between Adelman, Yao, and McGrady in leadership roles — that may have been the best of all. Unfortunately, the devastating injuries to both of its two top players prevented its potential from being realized.
Neither McGrady nor Yao ever returned to their previous All-Star levels of play after those 2008-09 injuries, and Adelman eventually parted ways with the Rockets after the 2010-11 season.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: The ‘championship team’ that wasn’t: David Adelman on the 2009 Rockets
Starting on Sunday, April 20, the Rockets will begin what they hope is an extended run in the 2025 NBA playoffs. It will be Houston’s first postseason appearance in five years.
The Rockets last won the NBA title 30 years ago, in 1995, but they have had some painful near-misses over the three decades since.
One of those came in the 2008-09 season, when the Rockets featured a roster headlined by a trio of star talents in Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace).
Unfortunately, McGrady was lost to a season-ending injury before the 2009 playoffs began, and Yao went out with his own season-ending injury midway through a series versus Kobe Bryant and the eventual champion Lakers. Yet, even with both McGrady and Yao unavailable over the final four games of the series, Houston’s team was still elite enough defensively to extend that series to a decisive, winner-take-all Game 7 in Los Angeles.
The coach of that Houston team was eventual Hall of Famer Rick Adelman, whose son, David, is currently the interim head coach of the playoff-bound Denver Nuggets.
When Denver played at Houston in Sunday’s regular-season finale, Rockets Wire spoke with the younger Adelman about his dad’s time in Houston and his thoughts upon returning as a head coach for the first time (for the younger Adelman, it was just his third game in that role).
Among David Adelman’s comments (video via Dave Hardisty, ClutchFans):
It was a special time here, and it was really a downer that they never were healthy. I really firmly believe the (2009) team that lost to the Lakers in seven in the second round, without Yao and without Tracy (McGrady), was a championship team. I really believe that.
I think a lot of people think my dad’s best opportunity to win it was in Sacramento or in Portland. I think deep down, he thinks it was that year. That team, with Artest and (Shane) Battier, and leadership down the line. Kyle Lowry, a young Kyle Lowry. Rafer Alston, you can go on and on and on. Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes. That team was loaded, and they were set up to win the championship.
Unfortunately, and I know this from when we won it two years ago (the Nuggets won the 2023 title with Adelman as an assistant coach): You’ve got to have a lot of luck to win this thing. You’ve got to be great, and you got to be lucky. It was too bad that at all those stops he had, it seemed like there was always something in the way, an injury here or a tipped ball that goes the other way. But yeah, he had a great run here, and that team was extremely fun to watch.
Nuggets coach David Adelman told @BenDuBose that he believes the 2008-09 Rockets, coached by his father Rick Adelman, was a championship team.
“I really firmly believe the team that lost to the Lakers in 7 in the second round, without Yao and without Tracy, was a championship… pic.twitter.com/N7IFyqJ7GB
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) April 13, 2025
It’s quite a statement, considering how close the elder Adelman came to winning it all with the aforementioned Kings and Trail Blazers.
In Sacramento, the 2001-02 Kings led the eventual champion Lakers (who swept the ensuing NBA Finals) by a 3-2 margin in the Western Conference Finals. But the Kings lost the sixth and seventh games, with the sixth coming amid extreme officiating controversy in favor of Los Angeles and the seventh a home loss in overtime.
In Portland, the Trail Blazers lost the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992, with the 1991-92 squad pushing Michael Jordan and the eventual champion Chicago Bulls to six games.
Yet, it was that 2008-09 Houston squad — which featured three Hall of Famers between Adelman, Yao, and McGrady in leadership roles — that may have been the best of all. Unfortunately, the devastating injuries to both of its two top players prevented its potential from being realized.
Neither McGrady nor Yao ever returned to their previous All-Star levels of play after those 2008-09 injuries, and Adelman eventually parted ways with the Rockets after the 2010-11 season.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: The ‘championship team’ that wasn’t: David Adelman on the 2009 Rockets
