March 1, 2026, 8:00 p.m. CT
The Houston Rockets have had players donning a total of 52 different jersey numbers (and have one not part of any numerical series for Houston assistant coach and general manager Carroll Dawson) since their founding at the start of the 1967-68 season, worn by just under 500 players in the course of Rockets history.
To honor all of the players who wore those numbers over the decades, Rockets Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who wore them since the founding of the team all those years ago right up to the present day.
With seven of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Rockets of all time to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover.
And for today’s article, we will continue with the first of 20 who wore the No. 9, guard alum Lionel Hollins. After ending his college career at Arizona State, Hollins was picked up with the sixth overall selection of the 1975 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Arkansas City, Kansas native played parts of the first five seasons of his pro career with Portland. He would also play for the Philadelphia 76ers, (then) San Diego (now, Los Angeles) Clippers, and the Detroit Pistons before he signed with Houston for the final season of his career in 1984.
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During his time suiting up for the Rockets, Hollins wore only jersey No. 9 and put up 7.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.