It’s been rare that I’ve been critical of this organization and this is with good reason – the Houston Rockets are one of the best managed teams in sports.
But there is one decision with which I must take issue and it pertains to the topic of those dreadful uniforms.
It was with reasonable intent that management made the switch following the second title. They stood to capitalize at the register off the prior year’s success. Unfortunately, the end-product was one of the most widely mocked outfits in league history, a regular atop lists of that sort.
In ’03, they tried to make amends, switching to the current threads, but still falling well short of acceptability. (It should be noted that the current scheme’s stark similarity to that of the Chinese national team’s and the glaring omission of the word ‘Houston’, both decisions for one obvious marketing consideration, were widely taken as a bit of a slap in the face by long-time ticket holders.)
The storied franchises in our league maintain their original looks in reverence of tradition. Change for the mere sake of reeks of vagrant insecurity and a lack of resolve in the timelessness of one’s own brand.
As one of just a handful of teams to have won a title in the last two decades, this franchise has tradition. For it’s management’s innovative strategies, this is one of the most well-respected organizations in this sport. It’s time the look reflected those realities. It’s time to restore pride in a classic image. It’s time to bring back the gold.
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