Houston Rockets tickets

"My father always taught me to be strong and have dignity, to not have to bow down or to have anyone run over you. "-Elvin Hayes.

Few opponents ran over Elvin Hayes of the Houston Rockets in his Hall of Fame basketball career. One of the best shooting big men in NBA history, "the Big E" led the league in five categories as a rookie in 1968-69 and kept his momentum going, making the All-Star Game in each of his first 12 seasons.
While Hayes certainly made a sudden impact, it was not like he came out of nowhere. He first mastered his unstoppable turnaround jump shot in high school in Rayville, La., and more than 100 colleges came calling. Hayes chose the University of Houston, where he became one of the most widely publicized college players of all time. His 39-point, 15-rebound game in a win against Lew Alcindor and mighty UCLA in 1968-still called the "game of the century" by some-drew 52,000-plus fans to the Astrodome and ended the Bruins' 47-game win streak.

It's no wonder the San Diego Rockets made Hayes the top overall choice in the 1968 NBA Draft, though he was undersized for a center at 6-foot-9 and would wind up playing power forward as well. The Rockets expected his mere presence to sell tens of thousands of tickets in Houston when the franchise relocated in 1971. When it didn't work out as planned, Hayes was traded to the Baltimore Bullets in 1972. He earned Finals MVP honors when the Bullets, now in Washington, won the NBA title in 1978.

Despite giving up a few inches to many of his opponents, Hayes twice led the NBA in rebounding. He tallied 54 points in a 1968 game against Detroit and he once grabbed a record 11 offensive boards in an NBA Finals game (1979) against Seattle. When he retired in 1984, he had played more minutes than anyone in NBA history and was third in scoring, games and blocked shots. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989.