The Rockets began to play in the NBA representing San Diego during the 1967-68 season with their nickname reflecting itself as "a city of motion". In 1971, the franchise was bought and was moved to Houston becoming the first NBA team in the state of Texas. One of its most sensational players is Yao Ming, a Chinese athlete who, at 7 feet 6 inches, is the tallest NBA player at present.

The team, in its early years, was famous in their red and gold color combo. The Rockets made a major change to their color scheme following the 1994-95 Championship season where the team switched their colors to red and blue and added pinstripes to their uniforms. Then, Houston dropped blue from the team's official colors and redesigned its uniforms. They wore again white at home games and red on the road accompanied by their new logo, a red “R" taking off like a Rocket with twin boosters.