The Houston Rockets spent eight seasons as the franchise with the most consecutive postseason appearances, from 2012-2020, reaching the Western Conference Finals twice and advancing past the first round in three other seasons.
Yet there's one year that saw the Rockets' streak end- the disastrous 2020-21 season where they produced a league-worst 17-55 record. The Rockets were fortunate that the NBA shortened the season due to the COVID pandemic, as they likely would've lost even more games.
The Rockets went into the season hoping to convince James Harden to stay with the franchise, as news leaked regarding Harden's desire to join Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. Harden eventually got his way, as the Rockets dealt him to Brooklyn after eight games in Houston.
The Rockets tried to salvage something by acquiring Victor Oladipo in the Harden deal, forming a Big Three of Oladipo, John Wall, and Christian Wood. However, the Rockets landed Oladipo and Wall too late in their respective careers, and quickly realized this roster wasn't nearly as talented as ones they'd had in previous seasons with Harden at the helm.
The 2020-21 season is painful to remember for Rockets' fans.
Any hope the Rockets had completely faded when Christian Wood went down with an ankle injury in the 21st game of the season. The rising star's ankle injury forced him out until mid-March, ending any hopes of a postseason run.
The Rockets went on a 20-game losing streak, which ranked as the ninth-longest losing streak in league history. The Rockets had 30 players suit up for them, which is not only an NBA record, but also a sign of just how bad the season was.
Six players from that team never saw another game of NBA action, 11 players remain in the league, and just two remain with the franchise to this day.
What happened to the members of the 2020-21 Houston Rockets? Here, we're going to go through every player that appeared in at least five games for the franchise during that morbid season.