1994–95 Houston Rockets season

The 1994–95 NBA season was the 28th season for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association, and their 24th season in Houston, Texas. After winning their first championship, the Rockets went on to win their first nine games of the regular season. However, with increased competition in the West, management felt a change was needed to win another title.

On February 14, 1995, the Rockets traded Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for All-Star guard Clyde Drexler, and three-point specialist Tracy Murray; Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon were both teammates at the University of Houston in the early 1980s. The team also signed free agent Chucky Brown midway through the season, and later on signed 38-year old veteran Charles Jones to a 10-day contract in April, where he played in the final three games of the regular season. However, after holding a 29–17 record at the All-Star break, the Rockets played .500 basketball in the second half of the regular season, posting an 18–18 record on their way to finishing in third place in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record, and earning the #6 seed in the Western Conference.

Olajuwon averaged 27.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.4 blocks per game, and was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix, Arizona, while Drexler averaged 21.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game in 35 games with the Rockets after the trade; Olajuwon and Drexler were both named to the All-NBA Third Team. In addition, Vernon Maxwell provided the team with 13.3 points per game, and led them with 143 three-point field goals, while Kenny Smith contributed 10.4 points per game and 142 three-point field goals, and Robert Horry averaged 10.2 points per game. Off the bench, second-year guard Sam Cassell provided with 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, while Mario Elie contributed 8.8 points per game, and Carl Herrera averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Olajuwon finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Drexler finished in fourteenth place; Olajuwon also finished in third place in Defensive Player of the Year voting. According to Horry, when All-Star center David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs was given his NBA Most Valuable Player of the Year award, before a game in the Western Conference Finals between the Spurs and Rockets, Olajuwon was upset and claimed that Robinson won "his" trophy; Olajuwon won the MVP award the previous season.

In the 1995 NBA playoffs, the Rockets faced off against the 3rd–seeded Utah Jazz in the Western Conference First Round; the Jazz would take a 2–1 series lead, but the Rockets went on to win the series in five games. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, they faced off against the 2nd–seeded Phoenix Suns for the second consecutive year; after trailing 3–1, the Rockets managed to defeat the 2nd-seeded Suns in seven games to advance to the Western Conference Finals. In the all Texas Western Conference Finals, they faced off against the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs; both teams lacked home-court advantage in the series, only winning on the road until the Rockets won Game 6 at The Summit and advanced to the 1995 NBA Finals.

In the Finals, they swept the Orlando Magic in four straight games, and won their second consecutive championship, with Olajuwon being named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player for the second straight year. As the 6th seed in the 1995 playoffs, the 1994–95 Rockets to date are the lowest seeded team in league history to win an NBA championship.

Following the season, Maxwell signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers; Maxwell had a controversial season, which involved him punching a fan during a road game against the Trail Blazers on February 6, 1995, which cost him a ten-game suspension, and leaving the team during the playoffs after being replaced with Drexler as the team's starting shooting guard. Meanwhile, Murray signed with the newly expansion Toronto Raptors, Herrera signed with the San Antonio Spurs, and Croatian rookie center Žan Tabak was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Raptors.