Kermit was the No. 5 rookie in the first round in 1973, averaging 9 points and 8 rebounds per game in his career, but he created the bloodiest brawl ever since the founding of the NBA, and no one has ever come since.

On December 9, 1977, Houston away to Los Angeles Lakers, at the Great Western Arena, the first half ended, the two teams fought to a 55-tie, and the best player of the Rockets in this game was Rudy Tomjanovic, he took 14 shots in the half, hit 9 of them, and at the beginning of the second half, the team's interior Kevin Kunet used a small move to plot against the Lakers' star player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he was fighting for a rebound, and the latter was angry and hugged Kunant. Lakers player Kermit Washington is an active militant, he is tall, muscular and has practiced boxing, the purpose of the Lakers signing him is to take a fancy to his good interior defensive ability, on the other hand, to act as a bodyguard for the team's star players, Kermit saw the conflict between Abdul-Jabbar and Kunant, and couldn't help but jump forward and pick up a punch with a sandbag to give Kunant a punch first, and only one punch knocked Kunant, who is 213 cm tall and weighs 104 kg, to the ground.

At the time of the conflict, Rudy Tomjanovic was about to complete a fast attack, he had already run to the center circle but heard the continuous whistle behind him and the sound of the player cursing, Rudy turned around and saw Abdul-Jabbar and Kunet were entangled Rudy hurriedly ran over - for the reason why he ran over, I believe many people think that he went to the rack, Rudy off the field has a gentle personality, Rudy on the field plays clean and calm, he is not the kind of arrogant and rude person, but his motivation for running over, But it was misunderstood by Washington.

Washington's family background is not good, he has been fighting with gangsters since he was a child, he has practiced professional boxing, and the fight is naturally familiar, he jumped out and knocked down Kunette at the same time, the afterglow of his eyes even drifted to Rudy who ran from behind, Washington remained silent, and when Rudy ran into the latter's attack area, Washington suddenly turned around, and his right hand blasted out a powerful hook, which focused Rudy's temple head-on, and the defenseless Rudy flew out like a piece of paper, and then fell heavily on the floor, He lay on the ground for three minutes without moving, as if he was dead, blood covered the floor under Rudy's head, and the huge moment fell silent, Rockets head coach Van der Wood was stunned for a few seconds before panicked and signaled assistant coach Hiltz to call the emergency number - poor Rudy was taken directly from the court to the hospital, and the examination report came out quickly, Rudy's skull was forcibly displaced by three inches, and Rudy, who was lying on the hospital bed, asked the doctor why the blood splashed in his mouth tasted salty, The doctor came back and said that the liquid that splashed in your mouth was not blood, but your **.

Rudy asked, "Will I still be able to play this season?" The doctor replied, playing? There's a chance you'll spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair!

Kermit Washington's punch almost killed Rudy on the court, this day was called the darkest day by the four major leagues in the United States, Washington was criticized by the whole American, especially in that era when racial discrimination has not been completely eliminated, Washington's punch directly ruined his career, in order to avoid public opinion pressure, the Lakers quickly sold Washington to the Boston Celtics less than a month after this happened, in 1978, a coincidental scene appeared, The Celtics brought in Kunant, one of the perpetrators of this year's tragedy, from the Rockets, and the two shook hands and became teammates, played together for three years, and the relationship was not bad, but it was bitter for poor Rudy Tomjanovic.

Because of this punch, Rudy underwent as many as 6 skull and skull recovery surgeries, the lacrimal gland was removed, and the head was nearly doubled in size, which also means that for the Rockets, Rudy will not appear on the field this season, the Rockets' bad luck is not only that, they lost Rudy in the first 23 games of the season, and there are 23 games left in this season, Malone also suffered a stress fracture in his right foot, and the season was reimbursed, and the Rockets, who broke two generals in a row, did not enter the playoffs in the end.

Judging from the development trajectory of the latter two people, the result of Washington's punch is a lose-lose, for Rudy, this punch directly buried Rudy's career in prime time, just two seasons later, Rudy had to retire because of a head injury, and Washington was blamed by the world, and even his wife couldn't hire a doctor to take care of his wife when she gave birth, Washington was indicted several times for intentional injury, but it was not established because of Abdul-Jabbar's strong influence, Washington, who originally had good interior defense and rebounding ability, became an outcast in the league, and no team was willing to give Washington a chance when his contract expired at the age of 30, and he was also terrified of finding a job after retiring, and after retiring, Washington took out the little money he earned in his career to do charity (the average salary of NBA players in that era was not high) was also to make up for the guilt of the team Rudy that year.

In the 1978-1979 season, the Rockets ushered in another outbreak, Moses Malone gained a full 15 pounds in the offseason, which made him more comfortable in the interior scramble, he averaged 24.8 points and 17.6 rebounds per game, including 7.2 frontcourt rebounds, and the shooting rate was as high as 54.0%, Malone used this performance for himself, and also won the first regular season MVP in team history for the Rockets, this year Malone was only 23 years old, but the young Malone replaced Rudy, Becoming the leader of the team, Murphy can also contribute 20 points per game in a consistent and efficient manner, Rudy is averaging 19 points per game after returning from injury, and Lucas II is gone in the final two years of his career, in exchange for Rick Barry, who is averaging a career-high 6.3 assists per game, and Mike Dunleavy, Robert Reid, and Mike Newlin on the bench can all contribute. The Rockets entered the playoffs again, and the opponent was the Atlanta Hawks, who were not strong, but the strange thing is that the Rockets who entered the playoffs almost couldn't find the feeling of playing overnight, and the Rockets lost two games in a row to end the season ahead of schedule. Except for Moses Malone, who averaged 24.5 points and 20.5 rebounds and 12.5 frontcourt rebounds per game, everyone else played a mess, Murphy averaged only 13 points per game and shot less than 30% from the field, and Rudy only scored 10 points per game. At the end of the season, Rockets head coach Nisalk resigned, and Devin Harris, known as the "Silver Fox", took over.

Harris has developed an inside-based tactical system, so Malone grabbed 14 rebounds per game at the same time, but also actively participated in the team's offense, averaging 18.9 shots per game is the highest in his career, in fact, in the last three years of Malone and Harris working together, Malone's shot ratio has been increasing, the first year is 18.9, the second year is 19.3, the third year is 22.5, Murphy is still able to average 20 points per game, but- In the 1979-1980 NBA, the three-point line was officially introduced, and Murphy made only one of 25 three-point attempts throughout the season, shooting 4.0 percent from the field...... Rudy's situation is not optimistic, the sequelae of multiple major surgeries on his head began to show, he missed the game many times because of migraines, and injuries also greatly affected Rudy's state, he only averaged 14 points per game this season, the Rockets achieved a 41-41 record, and reached the playoffs, Rudy's state in the playoffs further declined, 7 games, Rudy was only able to score 8.3 points per game, shooting 37%, but last year's bench Robert Reid replaced Rudy's position, In the playoffs, he was able to score nearly 18 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, shooting 51.0% from the field, and the Rockets were swept 4-0 by the Celtics after stepping through the first round.

The 1980-1981 season was the first peak reached by the Rockets. Malone's 27.8 points and 14.8 rebounds per game are still MVP-level, Murphy is averaging 17 points per game, Rudy Tomjanovic only played 52 games in the last season of his career, averaging only 11.6 points per game, Robert Reid, who performed well last season, was promoted to the starter, averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game, Mike Dunleavy and second-year rookie Aaron Revere also began to occupy more important roles, the team reached the playoffs and went all the way to the top of the West, but unfortunately, they met Larry Bird, who was in his prime, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale's Boston Celtics, and in the end the Rockets were swept 0-4.

Although the pursuit of the championship failed, the Rockets who reached the finals were enough to prove that they were a championship-level team, but unfortunately this opportunity came too late, Calvin Murphy was too old to fight again, and all 64 appearances in the new season were substitutes. Averaging only 10.2 points per game, the disheartened Rudy Tomjanovic announced his retirement before the start of the new season, and the once famous Rockets Trident officially became history, Rudy's eleven years of career were all dedicated to the Rockets, averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in his career, ranking second in team history in total points before retirement, the total number of rebounds, the total number of goals and the number of appearances are the first in team history, and he deserves to be one of the most outstanding stars in the history of the Rockets.

The Rockets' biggest offseason addition was the re-signing of former star player Elvin Hayes, a season that was exactly a decade since Hayes left the Rockets. Ten years of vicissitudes, Hayes was still young and at the peak of his youth when he left, and when he came back, Hayes was already the oldest player in the league, he was no longer the "BigE" who scored 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds at every turn, in fact, Hayes retired after three seasons after returning to the Rockets, but in fact, it was just such a season that he was able to make a stable contribution on the court, and his main role in the game was on the defensive end, This season, Hayes is also averaging 16 points and grabbing 9 rebounds per game, while Moses Malone is on fire, with a career-high 22.5 shots per game, in exchange for averaging 31.1 points and 14.7 rebounds per game, shooting 51.9% from the field, so he won the regular season MVP trophy again. On February 11, 1982, Malone grabbed 21 frontcourt rebounds in a single game in the Seattle SuperSonics, creating NBA history, and at the same time making his reputation as the "frontcourt rebounding king" far-reaching again! This year, the Rockets made the playoffs again, but lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round, although Malone averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds per game, but looking at others, no one can help him, Hayes and Revere's 14 points are already the highest scores of other teammates, and the supersonic little man Gais-Williams broke out, averaging 26 points and 8 assists per game in 3 games! And the team's boss Jack Sicoma can also contribute 20 points and 12 rebounds per game, Sicoma may not be familiar to everyone, he is a 7-time All-Star, and in 2007 was Yao Ming's assistant coach, mainly coaching the offensive footsteps of the interior.

After the end of the season, Moses Malone's contract expired, the Rockets wanted to rebuild, Malone wanted to go to a team that could win the championship, and the two sides got together and dispersed, this summer, Malone made the final contribution to the Rockets, signing with the Rockets for $13.2 million, and then using himself as a bargaining chip to trade for Cardwell Jones and a first-round pick from the 76ers, Malone defected to the 76ers because there was "Dr. J" Julius Irving.

Malone spent six seasons with the Rockets, the longest time in his 19-year NBA career, and when Malone left, he ranked third in Rockets history in points and field hits, and first in rebounds and blocks.

In other words, Cardwell Jones, who was replaced by the 76ers, is also a legend, starting his career in the ABA in 1974 and playing in the NBA in 1990. Witnessing the decline of the ABA and the rise of the NBA, his career is basically 8+8 level, his playing style is the interior defense system, as of the 2014-2015 season, Jones has 1517 total blocks ranked 35th in NBA history, and 7663 rebounds ranked 63rd in NBA history.

The once-glamorous combination of rocket giants eventually fell apart, and the rocket fell into a trough.