Fertitta hosts a Clutch City celebration
Midway through the Rockets gala Friday night, the NBA team’s owner, Tilman Fertitta, told the crowd that he spent the 11th hour rearranging furniture inside the ballroom at the Post Oak Hotel to get everything just so. To the casual observer, the setup was dazzling, contemporary and decidedly un-gala.
In lieu of the usual roundtable configuration, there were lounge-style vignettes with low, modular sofas separated by coffee tables. There were chili cheese hot dog stations and build-your-own nacho stations. Catering teams slid fries fresh out of the fryer into individual paper jackets. Sushi and sashimi shared a corner with preboxed sliders — brisket or sirloin. Curious about Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s champagne? Le Chemin Du Roi Brut and Roi Brut Rose Champagne were on proud display at each bar.
The fundraiser benefiting Clutch City Foundation has been held at the Landry’s Hangar in recent years. Feritta is the sole owner of Landry’s Inc., which now includes the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown campus. For 2024’s shindig in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Rockets’ 1993-94 championship team, organizers upped the ante.
In step with NBA players’ offcourt aesthetic, gala attendees were directed to wear sequins and sneakers. Box of Donuts, a New Orleans-based Kiss cover band, performed Top 40 hits throughout the punchy, upbeat program. One guest sprinted onstage and grabbed a pair of drumsticks during a rendition of DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What.”
This was some party. And then there were the guests of honor. Matt Thomas, host of the “Matt Thomas Show” on Sports Talk 790 and radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Rockets, was the team’s PA announcer in 1994.
“Thirty years ago, I was the announcer inside The Summit,” he said. “Who was there the night the Rockets clinched the 1994 championship?”
As partygoers rose to their feet, Thomas introduced players from the 2023-2024 Rockets lineup before inviting up the starters from the 1993-1994 championship team.
“You get a bond that is so damn strong. We’ll be together for the rest of our lives,” said Rockets former coach Rudy Tomjanovich. “We are brothers. We are Rockets forever.”
Robert Horry, former Rockets small forward/power forward, also said a few words. “Houston, we became Clutch City because of you. We brought the first championship team to Houston because of Houston. No one else said it, but I will, y’all have the hearts of a champion.”
Horry had some encouragement for Fertitta, too. “You got the right ingredients, man. Big things are happening in Houston.”
Fertitta’s attention to detail paid off. More than $750,000 was raised toward the foundation’s mission to provide experiences for local, underserved communities through the power of basketball.