NEW BOSS MAY MEAN LIFTOFF
Tilman Fertitta may be the ideal fit for the Rockets right now.
The owner of your favorite team may not have as much to do with your sports joy as who quarterbacks it, who pitches for it, or who coaches it, but when it comes to sports misery, team owners can be at the forefront of the pain. § As with most entities, sports franchises tend to take on the personality of their leader. § A franchise led by a true winner, one who won’t settle for second place, will contend regularly. One owned by someone who always puts business first, winning second, requires a lot of luck to get it done.
There are the owners who love the idea of being an owner — the attention, the power — but then will run a franchise like it’s a hobby. Those volatile situations, while usually entertaining, are rarely successful.
That said, the idea that a quiet, hands-off owner is the best kind of owner simply isn’t true. An owner can make as much noise as he wants, have a hand in on whatever he wants, as long as he is knowledgeable, hires good people, gives them what they need to do their jobs, and stresses that winning is important.
Expect Tilman Fertitta to be that type of owner. There might not be a better choice for ownership of the Rockets than Fertitta, who has agreed to buy the team from Les Alexander for a record price of $2.2 billion.
The right mix
Fertitta has a healthy mix of competiveness and drive that should serve him well running the Rockets.
He will be dramatically different (emphasis on dramatically) than Alexander, who while not shunning the spotlight, certainly never sought it out.
After the announcement of the sale on Tuesday, Fertitta, while riding in a car. did an interview with TMZ.
Alexander Hamilton, who has been dead for more than 200 years, is more likely to appear on TMZ than Les Alexander.
That Fertitta is comfortable in the spotlight shouldn’t be an issue. In fact, in the modern NBA — a league where more and more top players have learned to exercise their rightful power to capitalize on their abilities — it is a plus.
Players will want to associate with Fertitta, a proven winner who talks a good game and usually delivers.
The Rockets never were in any danger of being moved to another city. No city in North America that doesn’t already have an NBA franchise would be a better home for one of the league’s most successful teams.
Unlike when Jim Crane bought the Astros and MLB put the screws to him just because it could, Fertitta’s approval process should be routine. Having long given up the fight for gaming in Texas, his gambling interests in Las Vegas, Louisiana and New Jersey won’t scare off the NBA.
A new energy
As the Rockets enter their second half-century, this is a good time for a mid-life crisis.
Not that the team was desperate for new blood at the top. Now in his early 70s, Alexander moves around a little slower than he used to, but his desire to win has not changed since he hit town in 1993 as a hard-driving, self-made man who built his fortune playing investment games on Wall Street.
Still, Fertitta will bring an energy that could excite fans who have grown up expecting little from the Rockets.
The number of hardcore Rockets fans hasn’t grown with the city’s population. That happens when a team makes just one deep playoff run in 20 years.
Look at it this way. If you’re 45, you grew up with a Rockets franchise that regularly challenged for championships, went to NBA Finals; won some, lost some.
If you’re 25, maybe your parents have a VHS tape recording of you sitting in a stroller as they tried to get you to say “Never underestimate the heart of a champion,” but you grew up not expecting much from the Rockets.
And not much is what they have
delivered in the past 20 years, posting far more seasons with first-round losses (nine) and ones in which they didn’t even make the playoffs (eight), than seasons they advanced to the second round (three).
Rockets fans in their mid-40s long for the good old days. Like answering machines and one-hour photo developing shacks, fans in their mid20s don’t even know what the good old days are.
Whether or not you believe in the mythological championship window, the next few seasons for the Rockets could be special.
James Harden is one of the league’s top players and should be for years to come. Chris Paul, another elite player and future hall of famer, just got here and could choose to stay to chase that elusive NBA championship.
Though it will be interesting to see how he navigates the NBA landscape with different marching orders from a new leader, general manager Daryl Morey has played the analytics game well considering some of the hands he has been dealt. And chief executive Tad Brown has built a successful business model that should continue to thrive.
As was the case for Alexander, who bought the team when it was ready to win back-to-back championships, Fertitta is coming in at a very good time.
He just might be the right man to show millennials what the good old days were all about.