Is Daryl Morey getting a pass for quitting on the Rockets?

The common excuses for Morey

Morey has largely received a pass for his dishonest exit from the Rockets, as the fan favorite has garnered multiple excuses from the Rockets’ faithful. A quick peruse of Rockets Twitter reveals one of the more common themes about Morey’s departure was that the move was justifiable because he’s been surrounded by ownership that hasn’t always put him in the best position to succeed.

One can’t ignore the fact that the Rockets have seemingly made it an annual tradition to elude paying the luxury tax since Morey became the general manager in 2007, but it didn’t stop Morey from being successful and winning the Executive of the Year during the 2016-17 season, in which the Rockets’ sole superstar was James Harden.

Morey was also behind the success of the Rockets’ 2017-18 season, which was also a season in which the Rockets didn’t pay the luxury tax, although they finished with the top seed in the Western Conference and the best record in the NBA, while also setting a franchise record with 65 wins.

Considering the success Morey had in spite of said financial strains, it’s hard to understand why this would all of a sudden be utilized as justification for his abrupt departure, and especially for him being dishonest upon his exit.

It’s also been proposed that Morey refrained from telling the truth, as he was trying to protect the Rockets’ reputation, with the logic being that he cited the “gap year” line to refrain from being vocal about the Rockets’ dire state of affairs.

But Morey could have also explained this in a much better way than citing personal reasons that seemingly didn’t exist at the time of his resignation from the Rockets, and especially considering the fact that he had another job in the wings.

The reality is that Morey doesn’t deserve a pass in this situation, as he was simply in the wrong, which I’ll elaborate on.

Next: Why Morey was in the wrong