[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/tex...y-18548829.php

Rockets unveil new headquarters, next step in rebuilding a winner

By Jonathan Feigen,
Staff writer
Dec 12, 2023

After years of often painful rebuilding, the Rockets on Tuesday showed off what has been built so far. They were not talking about the team or the improved results.

Rockets management led a tour of the construction for the Memorial Hermann Houston Rockets Training Facility scheduled for completion next summer, a 75,000-square-foot basketball headquarters that franchise owner Tilman Fertitta pledged would give his team “an edge” in a variety of ways.

“It’s going to be brand new, state of the art, just having dual courts, having the outdoor practice facility, the unbelievable weight room, even having the coaches next to the film guys. … We’re just truly excited about it,” Fertitta said. “Our players will be excited about it. This will be a great recruiting tool for free agents to have a facility like that.

“We think we nailed it.”

Fertitta said the project had been delayed in the first years after he bought the Rockets in 2017. He was trying to find a location large enough, then decided to prioritize keeping it close to the center of town. But he added that the timing seemed right with the Rockets a far more competitive team this season after compiling the worst three-year record in the NBA.

“This is the reason we’re doing it after this year — because they didn’t deserve it before,” Fertitta joked. “We always want to make the right decision, just like it took me a couple years to really understand how the team flies and that they needed their own plane and more comfortable seats. We looked at a lot of facilities to see what other ones had.”