The Houston Rockets updated their “current era” mural in the tunnel at Toyota Center by removing Chris Paul and adding Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela, and newcomer Russell Westbrook.
The changes at the team’s home arena were made before Wednesday’s preseason game versus the San Antonio Spurs.
In recent years, the tunnel heading from Houston’s locker room to the court has honored three separate eras of the franchise. The first, from the 1990s, celebrates the 1994 and 1995 championship years, led by Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.
The second mural, from the 2000s, recognizes the era led by Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Shane Battier — which culminated in a franchise best 22-game winning streak in the 2007-08 season. (At the time, it was the second longest in NBA history.)
The third and final mural is about today’s era, headlined by franchise centerpiece and 2018 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) James Harden. Last season, the only current players spotlighted on the mural were Harden and Paul. New owner Tilman Fertitta and his family, along with head coach Mike D’Antoni, are also featured.
But with the offseason trade of Paul (and future draft considerations) for Westbrook, the Rockets freshened up the mural for the 2019-20 NBA season by replacing Paul with Westbrook and also adding key role players such as Tucker, Capela, and Gordon — all of whom are under contract for multiple seasons moving forward.
Here’s what the “current era” mural looks like now:
For comparison, here’s what the same space looked like last season, before the offseason changes:
The 2018-19 version of the mural (with Paul) was still up on Sept. 30, which is when the Rockets began their current preseason slate. The changes were implemented while the team was on its road trip to Hawaii and Japan for three exhibitions.
Led by two former MVPs in Harden and Westbrook, the new-look Rockets begin their 2019-20 regular season on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Toyota Center versus the Milwaukee Bucks.
