Rudy T deflects credit to team
Rockets’ success taught coach to ‘believe in people’
Rudy Tomjanovich took his place on the Hall of Fame weekend stage, telling the old stories of his career from Hamtramck to the Hall, how he played his way past a teacher/ coach to get on his high school team, how he came to accept the coaching job he did not want.
Then, asked what about his championship teams made him most proud, he cited the quality that could have summed up his own career.
He had said that in all the months since he was told he would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the storied class of 2020, it still hadn’t sunk in. A chance encounter perhaps explained it all, from a career spent overcoming obstacles to the “Heart of a Champion” and ultimately his place in the Hall.
“I was in an airport,” Tomjanovich said. “A minister came up to me and said, “In Sunday school, we use you guys as an example of how to do it the right way. You played hard. You played as a team. And you’re good sportsmen.
“I said, ‘Well, thank you. Where is your church in Houston?’ He said, “Oh, no, no. We’re not from Houston. We’re from Phoenix.” That really hit me that they can see the character of those guys that I was coaching.”
The ability to overcome obstacles that Tomjanovich cited when describing his Rockets championship teams and even his 2000 Olympic Gold Medal team was also the most important trait of his own career.
That included the long wait to be inducted, a delay that placed him in one of the greatest classes ever, with Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kim Mulkey, Tamika Catchings, Eddie Sutton, Barbara Stevens and Patrick Baumann. The induction ceremony will be Saturday at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut instead of the Hall’s home in Springfield, Mass.
Tomjanovich coached Bryant with the Lakers and Garnett with the 2000 Olympic team, along with many years coaching against both, and against Duncan with the Spurs.
“Kobe, just ‘explosion,’ ” Tomjanovich said. “He could just blow up and get that scoreboard to go on from everywhere, from deep, going to the basket. He was just a tenacious defender.
“KG, he was as good on defense as he was on offense. A great all-around player. And I’ll never forget the first time I saw Tim Duncan catch a basketball. He caught it and he brought it under his chin. I didn’t have to see anything more. I said, ‘He knows how to play,’ and it made me sick. He was phenomenal.”
Bryant, he said, “Not only influenced the people of Los Angeles but the whole world.
“Such a special player,” Tomjanovich said. “Very good basketball mind. He was always hungry to hear what the coach thought. He’d call me even before we started practice. I consider being in his presence … one of the gifts that coaching has given me.
“I consider Kevin a leader on that (Olympics) team. It was great working with him. Kevin was a big part of that team to bring home the gold.”
But Tomjanovich will be forever remembered for a career with the Rockets, going from the last team in San Diego to the first in Houston, to the first Finals run and to leading the Rockets to championships in 1993-94 and 1994-95.
He spoke Friday about Bill Fitch making him an advance scout, giving him the opportunity to learn the schemes of other teams. He cited the meeting after Don Chaney, whom he called “a wonderful person,” was fired, leading to Carroll Dawson persuading him to accept the position and becoming his “big brother.”
That all led to a decadeslong relationship with Houston and Rockets fans.
“It was, I think, a rare situation that I played there and then was an assistant coach for a long time and wind up getting the job,” Tomjanovich said. “I consider myself a Houstonian. Wonderful people in Texas. I even moved back to Austin.
“I had just about every job you can have as a basketball guy. I feel when I’m up here tomorrow that Houston will be right here.”
Tomjanovich also described again where came up with his trophy presentation comment that has become a rallying cry for players and coaches throughout sports, making clear that the line co-opted from Suns guard Kevin Johnson after the Rockets beat Phoenix in the 1995 Western Conference semifinals should be used as he had, rather than as he often hs been misquoted.
“It’s turned into something that’s gone a long time,” Tomjanovich said. “When I look back at it, I said, “You know, that probably wasn’t the best thing for me to say.’ But it was sort of like, in your face. People think it’s just like this axiom, ‘Never underestimate the heart of a champion.’ What it was was, “Don’t ever …” like a warning. I had no idea that it would have the long life that it had.”
He said he thought the eventual 1994-95 champions were disrespected while struggling amid predictions that they would become the first champions to miss the playoffs the next season. That led to the warning that resonates as much more.
He could not, however, pick a favorite title team.
“It’s like your children. You can’t put one over the other,” Tomjanovich said. “You love them each for their own characteristics. What I’m very, very proud of is when we were backed into the corner, we were amazing.
“I advise people to have something like that in your life where it’s a tough situation and a group of people have to get together to get it done, where all the BS goes out the window and you do the right things. It got me to really believe in people. That’s what I’m more proud of.”