“It was like a dungeon,” Jock Landale says of Houston’s previous practice facility at Toyota Center. “It was quite depressing, to be honest with you.”
During the NBA’s 2023-24 season, the Houston Rockets went 41-41 and finished No. 11 in the Western Conference. In 2024-25, they were 52-30 and No. 2 in the West.
There were many reasons for that turnaround, and most notably growth by players and coaches throughout Houston’s young and improving roster. But one contributing factor to that development may have been a state-of-the-art practice facility, which opened in the 2024 offseason.
Veteran center Jock Landale was around for both of those seasons, and he says his year two in Houston was made more enjoyable in part due to the facility.
Via a Tommy Talks podcast episode on the Ausmerican Aces YouTube channel:
The biggest difference between the two years… the first year, our practice facility was underneath the game facility, so there was no sunlight. It was like a dungeon. It was quite depressing, to be honest with you. Come the second year, we had a brand-new practice facility with all the bells and whistles. Natural light. It was a tale of two stories. It was unreal. So the second season was really enjoyable, and we were winning, so that was great.
The former facility was part of the team’s home arena of Toyota Center, which is where the Rockets have played their home games since 2003. At the time, under previous owner Les Alexander, the thought was that it would be logistically easier to have everything under one roof.
But with space at a premium in downtown Houston, there wasn’t much room to expand, and that led to an sub-street facility that felt relatively cramped.
Finally, in the 2020s, current owner Tilman Fertitta decided to branch out and invest in a new facility a few miles away from downtown, which allowed more space. The team also moved its basketball operations offices to the practice facility, thereby giving more real estate at Toyota Center to the organization’s business operations.
As evidenced by reviews from Landale and others, the plan was well received and seems to be working out just as intended.