what year did the houston rockets win their first championship?
1994 NBA Finals
entailment
 In the Rockets ' debut season , they won 15 games . After drafting Elvin Hayes first overall in the 1968 NBA Draft , they made their first appearance in the playoffs in 1969 . After Hayes was traded , Moses Malone replaced him . Malone won two Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) awards during his time in Houston , and he led the Rockets to the 1978 conference finals in his first year with the Rockets . He also took the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 , but they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics . 

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 Houston was again given the first pick of the 1984 NBA Draft , and they used it to select Hakeem Olajuwon from the University of Houston . In his first season , Olajuwon finished second to Michael Jordan in NBA Rookie of the Year balloting , and the Rockets record improved by 19 games , although they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs . 

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 Upon moving to Houston in 1971 , the Rockets replaced green with red . They kept the same design from their San Diego days , save for the change of color and city name . The logo used is of a player with a spinning basketball launching upward , with boosters on his back , leaving a trail of red and gold flames and the words " Houston Rockets " below it . 

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 After Houston was awarded the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft , they selected Yao Ming , a 7 feet 6 inches ( 2 @.@ 29 m ) Chinese center . The Rockets missed the 2003 playoffs by one game , improving their record by 15 victories . 

entailment
 In 1968 , after the Rockets won a coin toss against the Baltimore Bullets to determine who would have the first overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft , they selected Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston . Hayes improved the Rockets ' record to 37 wins and 45 losses , enough for the franchise 's first ever playoff appearance in 1969 , but the Rockets lost in the semi @-@ finals of the Western Division to the Atlanta Hawks , four games to two . Despite the additions of Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich and the management of Hall of Fame coach Alex Hannum , the Rockets tallied a 57 – 97 record in the following two seasons and did not make the playoffs in either season . Because of the low performance and attendance , Breitbard looked to sell the team , and in 1971 , Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $ 5 @.@ 6 million , and moved the team to Houston . The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas , and the nickname " Rockets " took on even greater relevance after the move , given Houston 's long connection to the space industry . 
