1983–84 Houston Rockets season

The 1983–84 Houston Rockets season featured the NBA debut of Ralph Sampson, whom the Rockets had selected as the first pick of the 1983 NBA draft. Under head coach Bill Fitch, the team finished with a 29–53 record, although Sampson won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

1983–84 Houston Rockets season
Head coach	Bill Fitch
Arena	The Summit
Results
Record	29–53 (.354)
Place	Division: 6th (Midwest) Conference: 12th (Western)
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	KTXH Home Sports Entertainment
Radio	KTRH

The team has been cited as an example of a "tanking", by deciding to play more bench players after starting the season with a 20–26 record, in order to fall in the standings and get higher in the draft order for the following season. The Rockets finished last in the Western Conference and later won a coin flip that gave them the first section in the 1984 NBA draft, with which they selected Hakeem Olajuwon.

Draft picks

Main article: 1983 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Club team
1	1	Ralph Sampson	C/PF	United States	Virginia
1	3	Rodney McCray	SF	United States	Louisville
3	48	Craig Ehlo	SG	United States	Washington State
4	71	Darrell Browder		United States	TCU
5	94	Chuck Barnett		United States	Oklahoma
6	117	Jim Stack		United States	Northwestern
7	140	Brian Kellerman		United States	Idaho
8	163	Jeff Bolding		United States	Arkansas State
9	185	James Campbell		United States	Oklahoma City

Roster

1983–84 Houston Rockets roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From PF 2 James Bailey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1957–05–21 Rutgers SG 3 Craig Ehlo 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1961–08–11 Washington State PG 1 Phil Ford 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1956–06–02 North Carolina PF 44 Elvin Hayes 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1945–11–17 Houston C 27 Caldwell Jones 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1950–08–04 Albany State PF 11 Major Jones 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1953–07–09 Albany State PG 30 Allen Leavell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1957–05–27 Oklahoma City SG 32 Lewis Lloyd 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1959–02–22 Drake SF 22 Rodney McCray 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1961–08–29 Louisville SF 33 Robert Reid 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1955–08–30 Saint Mary's C 50 Ralph Sampson 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1960–07–07 Virginia SG 20 Terry Teagle 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1960–04–10 Baylor SF 42 Wally Walker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1954–07–18 Virginia

Head coach Bill Fitch Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Utah Jazz	45	37	.549	–	31–10	14–27	15–15
x-Dallas Mavericks	43	39	.524	2	31–10	12–29	19–11
x-Denver Nuggets	38	44	.463	7	27–14	11–30	16–14
x-Kansas City Kings	38	44	.463	7	26–15	12–29	16–14
San Antonio Spurs	37	45	.451	8	28–13	9–32	14–16
Houston Rockets	29	53	.354	16	21–20	8–33	9–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Los Angeles Lakers	54	28	.659	–
2	y-Utah Jazz	45	37	.549	9
3	x-Portland Trail Blazers	48	34	.585	6
4	x-Dallas Mavericks	43	39	.524	11
5	x-Seattle SuperSonics	42	40	.512	12
6	x-Phoenix Suns	41	41	.500	13
7	x-Denver Nuggets	38	44	.463	16
8	x-Kansas City Kings	38	44	.463	16
9	San Antonio Spurs	37	45	.451	17
10	Golden State Warriors	37	45	.451	17
11	San Diego Clippers	30	52	.366	24
12	Houston Rockets	29	53	.354	25

Game log

Regular season

1983–84 game log Total: 29–53 (Home: 21–20; Road: 8–33)
October: 1–0 (home: 1–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
November: 5–10 (home: 4–4; road: 1–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 November 4 @ Detroit W 113–108 Pontiac Silverdome 2–2 5 November 5 @ Kansas City L 106–123 Kemper Arena 2–3 6 November 8 Portland L 104–122 The Summit 2–4 7 November 10 Utah L 109–118 The Summit 2–5 8 November 12 Dallas W 100–98 The Summit 3–5 9 November 15 New Jersey L 86–104 The Summit 3–6 10 November 18 @ Denver L 127–134 McNichols Sports Arena 3–7 12 November 22 Phoenix W 118–96 The Summit 5–7 13 November 25 Philadelphia L 101–115 The Summit 5–8 14 November 26 @ Atlanta L 109–115 The Omni 5–9 16 November 30 @ Dallas L 102–113 Reunion Arena 6–10
December: 6–9 (home: 4–3; road: 2–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 December 2 Seattle W 125–102 The Summit 7–10 18 December 3 @ New York L 101–117 Madison Square Garden 7–11 19 December 6 Washington L 109–113 The Summit 7–12 20 December 7 @ Milwaukee L 101–103 MECCA Arena 7–13 22 December 10 Utah L 121–128 The Summit 8–14 23 December 13 Phoenix W 129–110 The Summit 9–14 24 December 15 @ Utah L 111–138 Salt Palace Acord Arena 9–15 27 December 22 @ Seattle W 116–112 Kingdome 11–16 28 December 23 @ Portland L 84–97 Memorial Coliseum 11–17 30 December 29 Boston W 107–94 The Summit 12–18 31 December 30 @ Phoenix L 110–121 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 12–19
January: 7–7 (home: 5–3; road: 2–4) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 32 January 3 Dallas L 117–119 The Summit 12–20 33 January 4 @ Utah (at Las Vegas, Nevada) L 111–116 Thomas & Mack Center 12–21 34 January 6 @ Seattle W 116–112 Kingdome 12–22 35 January 8 @ Los Angeles W 129–118 The Forum 13–22 36 January 10 Los Angeles L 132–136 (OT) The Summit 13–23 37 January 12 Portland L 117–120 The Summit 13–24 39 January 14 Kansas City W 109–104 The Summit 15–24 40 January 17 Denver W 124–115 The Summit 16–24 42 January 21 Utah W 115–105 The Summit 18–24 44 January 26 @ Los Angeles L 102–131 The Forum 18–26 All-Star Break 45 January 31 @ Kansas City W 122–107 Kemper Arena 19–26
February: 4–9 (home: 3–4; road: 1–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 46 February 2 Dallas W 123–107 The Summit 20–26 47 February 4 New York L 95–103 The Summit 20–27 48 February 7 @ Washington L 92–95 Capital Centre 20–28 49 February 8 @ Philadelphia L 107–118 The Spectrum 20–29 50 February 10 @ Boston L 101–114 Boston Garden 20–30 51 February 12 @ New Jersey L 103–107 Brendan Byrne Arena 20–31 52 February 14 Detroit L 119–126 The Summit 20–32 54 February 18 Phoenix L 102–126 The Summit 21–33 55 February 21 Milwaukee W 119–102 The Summit 22–33 56 February 22 @ Dallas L 106–112 Reunion Arena 22–34 58 February 28 Seattle W 111–105 The Summit 23–35
March: 5–11 (home: 4–4; road: 1–7) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 59 March 1 Kansas City L 101–108 The Summit 23–36 61 March 6 @ Denver L 128–130 McNichols Sports Arena 24–37 62 March 7 @ Phoenix L 110–123 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 24–38 67 March 17 Los Angeles L 111–123 The Summit 26–41 68 March 20 Kansas City L 102–115 The Summit 26–42 69 March 21 @ Denver L 125–134 McNichols Sports Arena 26–43 70 March 23 @ Dallas L 104–116 Reunion Arena 26–44 71 March 24 Atlanta W 103–102 The Summit 27–44 72 March 27 Denver W 140–137 The Summit 28–44 73 March 29 @ Los Angeles L 109–115 The Forum 28–45 74 March 31 Portland L 102–106 The Summit 28–46
April: 1–7 (home: 0–2; road: 1–5) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 75 April 2 @ Utah L 100–111 Salt Palace Acord Arena 28–47 77 April 5 @ Portland W 129–114 Memorial Coliseum 29–48 78 April 8 @ Seattle (at Tacoma, Washington) L 107–120 Tacoma Dome 29–49 80 April 11 Denver L 110–130 The Summit 29–51 82 April 14 @ Kansas City L 96–108 Kemper Arena 29–53
1983–84 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and records

Awards

• Ralph Sampson, NBA Rookie of the Year Award
• Ralph Sampson, All-NBA Second Team
• Ralph Sampson, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team

Transactions

Free agents

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team

Subtractions

Player	Left	New team

See also

• 1983–84 NBA season