![]() Mobley also finished in second place in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Off the bench, first round draft pick Kenny Thomas averaged 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and Rogers contributed 8.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In addition, second-year guard Cuttino Mobley played a sixth man role, averaging 15.8 points per game off the bench, while Anderson provided the team with 12.3 points per game, Williams contributed 10.9 points per game, and Cato provided with 8.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Francis finished second in the Slam Dunk Contest to Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors. He also participated in the Rookie-Sophomore Game, and the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend in Oakland. The Rockets won seven of their final ten games in April, and finished sixth in the Midwest Division with a record of 34–48, failing to qualify for the playoffs, which was the first time they missed the postseason since the 1991–92 season.įrancis averaged 18.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, as he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, and shared Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand of the Chicago Bulls. Hakeem Olajuwon only played just 44 games due to a hernia injury, and breathing problems, averaging just 10.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The Rockets got off to a bad start losing ten of their first twelve games, but later won six straight games in January, but then lost eight straight in March. During the off-season, the Rockets acquired Walt Williams, Kelvin Cato and Carlos Rogers from the Portland Trail Blazers, and signed free agent Shandon Anderson. This season is notable for the Rockets acquiring top draft pick Steve Francis from the University of Maryland in a trade from the Vancouver Grizzlies the Grizzlies had drafted Francis with the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, but he refused to play for them. The 1999–2000 NBA season was the Rockets' 33rd season in the National Basketball Association, and 29th season in the city of Houston. Pippen’s comments on his media tour may draw attention to his book, but they’re also clearly missing some context related to his role there.NBA professional basketball team season 1999–2000 Houston Rockets season It’s also worth noting that teammates on the ’99 Rockets strongly took Barkley’s side in the dispute and remain in his camp, to this day. Barkley never had the luxury of having a teammate of that caliber, and certainly not in 1999 - when Pippen averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 40.2 minutes per game with the Rockets after signing a maximum-salary contract in the offseason. However, all of those six were earned playing alongside Michael Jordan, who is viewed by most as being the best player in NBA history. Pippen does own six championship rings, compared to zero for Barkley. Listen to our Town Hall with Scottie Pippen here: "Charles wasn't as dedicated as I thought he would be." explains to how it just didn't work out in Houston with Charles Barkley. I ended up in Portland with a younger team, a hungrier team, and players that I could kind of stand behind, and not have to stand out front anymore. Me, myself, I had six (championships), so it wasn’t really about me trying to go out of my way to win a championship. I went to Houston to try and help Charles Barkley win a championship, and I felt that his dedication wasn’t there, once I got there. I didn’t realize Charles wasn’t as dedicated as I thought he would be. I hadn’t realized how much Hakeem had diminished in the game, I’ll be honest. Coming off a second back surgery, I needed a little more youth around me. I felt that this wasn’t a good fit for me. We just didn’t have the right chemistry, and we were aging a little bit. I thought I was joining a super team, to some degree, but it just didn’t work out. In hindsight, here’s how Pippen remembers it: After the season, Pippen got into a war of words with Barkley and effectively forced a trade to Portland, ending his Houston tenure after only one abbreviated season. They were then booted from the playoffs in the first round. While much of his criticism has targeted longtime teammate Michael Jordan, the Houston Rockets managed to catch a stray shot, as well, during Pippen’s recent interview with Frank Isola on Sirius XM NBA Radio.Īfter Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls following the 1997-98 season, Pippen was a free agent and moved to Houston to join forces with two other Hall of Famers: Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley.īut the 1999 Rockets went 31-19 in a lockout-shortened regular season, placing them No. Scottie Pippen isn’t making many friends from the promotional media tour accompanying the release of his new book, “Unguarded.” ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |