Ric Bucher says Tilman Fertitta, Rockets having financial issues

Longtime NBA insider and FS1 analyst Ric Bucher says the Houston Rockets and owner Tilman Fertitta are in a bad financial situation.

The novel coronavirus has caused the sports world to shut down across all fronts, as the risk of playing was simply been too great to put players, coaches, and team officials at risk, not to mention their families. These have been trying times for all of us globally, and the Houston Rockets have done their part by assisting the Houston community in many different ways.

The Rockets have hosted blood drives and have provided meals to frontline workers to express their appreciation for those putting their lives at risk. On the basketball front, the league has also been affected, as the individual players have mulled over whether to return to action, which will be officially decided by June 24th.

But the COVID-19 has also affected the owners, and rightfully so considering how they’ve been unable to generate the revenue and profits they would normally have reeling in. Many of these owners’ businesses have also been unable to operate at full capacity (depending on the industry) due to work conditions not being safe.

This has especially been the case for Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who has established his empire through the restaurant industry, which has arguably been hit the hardest.

Restaurants were initially closed for dine-in purposes and were limited to carry out or delivery, which reduced Fertitta’s operating revenue to just 4-5 percent of what he’d normally reel in. Fertitta’s casinos were also forced to shut down for the same reasons, which temporarily limited his funds.

But depending on who and what you believe, it’s possibly been much worse than just that for the Rockets.

Next: Bucher talks about Rockets' finances