The Rockets took the subdued thing too far, with perhaps the leagues plainest court design and a basic red-and-white color scheme. They break out the old McDonalds red-and-yellow look several times per season, and there seems to be a groundswell for a return to that early-1990s style.
Houston decided to ditch that look around 1993, because the teams owner, Leslie Alexander, thought it had become synonymous with losing, OGrady remembers. Alexander wanted to start fresh and incorporate an actual rocket ship. And then, bam: Houston won back-to-back titles in their yellow-and-red duds, shattering their alleged connection with loserdom. The Rockets asked to reverse the branding change, but it was too late; the league sent them a seven-figure bill for all the merchandise they had already commissioned, and Houston relented, OGrady says.