The 1996–97 NBA season was the Rockets' 30th season in the National Basketball Association, and 26th season in Houston.
 During the offseason, the Rockets acquired All-Star forward Charles Barkley from the Phoenix Suns, and signed free agents Kevin Willis and Brent Price.
 The Rockets blasted off to a 21–2 start, but later on struggled posting a six-game losing streak between January and February.
 Barkley averaged 19.2 points per game, but appeared in just 53 games due to ankle and hip injuries.
 At midseason, the Rockets signed free agents Eddie Johnson and Sedale Threatt as they finished second in the Midwest Division with a 57–25 record.
 Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and head coach Rudy Tomjanovich represented the Western Conference during the 1997 NBA All-Star Game.
 However, Barkley and Drexler did not play due to injuries.
Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach.
 He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses.
 He led the University of California to the 1959 NCAA men's basketball championship, and a year later coached the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 1960 Summer Olympics, a team that would be inducted as a unit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
 After his coaching career ended he ran a world-famous instructional basketball camp and served as a consultant and scout for several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams.
 He is often considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of basketball.
The 1983–84 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1983–84 season.
 The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.
 Under the direction of head coach Bill Frieder, the team finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference.
 The team earned an invitation to the 1984 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) where it was crowned champion.
 Although during the seventeen weeks of Associated Press Top Twenty Poll the team was ranked twice, including a peak of number fifteen, it began and finished the season unranked and it also ended the season unranked in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.
 Dan Pelekoudas earned honorable mention Academic All-American recognition.
 Tim McCormick and Eric Turner served as team captains, while Roy Tarpley earned team MVP.
 Turner's career assist total of 421 eclipsed Steve Grote's 358 and would stand until Antoine Joubert tied him as a junior and then totaled 539 in 1987, while his career average of 5.00 per game, which surpassed Ricky Green's 4.05 would stand until Gary Grant's career ended in 1988 with 5.67 per game.
 Tarpley 69 blocked shots and 2.09 blocked shot average were school records that he would break himself in subsequent seasons.
 Turner ended his career with an average of 35.3 minutes per game, which surpassed Mike McGee's 1981 record and continues to be the school's best.
 On January 28, 1984, against Illinois Turner played 56 minutes for the highest single game total in school history, surpassing his 55 minute effort the prior year.
 The record still stands.
Kermit Alan Washington (born September 17, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player.
 Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight in 1977.
 His punch nearly killed Tomjanovich, and resulted in severe medical problems that ultimately ended Tomjanovich's playing career.
The 1968–69 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1968–69 season.
 The team played its home games at Crisler Arena on the school's campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
 Under the direction of head coach Johnny Orr, the team finished fourth in the Big Ten Conference.
 The team was unranked the entire season in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll, and it also ended the season unranked in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.
 The team defeated two of the seven ranked opponents that it faced (#16 Duke 90–80 on December 9, 1968, at the Kentucky Invitational Tournament held at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, and #10 Illinois 92–87 on February 11, 1969, at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois).
 Ken Maxey served as team captain, while Rudy Tomjanovich earned team MVP.
 Over the course of the season Tomjanovich led the conference in rebounding with a 12.8 average in conference games.
 On February 1, 1969, against Loyola
The 2002–03 NBA season was the Rockets' 36th season in the National Basketball Association, and 32nd season in the city of Houston.
 This was their final season playing at the Compaq Center.
 The Rockets won the Draft Lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese sensation Yao Ming with the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft.
 In December, the Rockets acquired James Posey from the Denver Nuggets in a three-team trade which sent Kenny Thomas to the Philadelphia 76ers.
 This season was also head coach Rudy Tomjanovich's last as he would step down following the season due to health issues.
 With Yao teamed up with captain Steve Francis, they gelled their first season together, being named as starters for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game.
 On January 17, 2003, Francis gained national media attention, scoring a career-high 44 points in a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
 The Rockets would go on to finish the season with a 43–39 record without clinching a playoff spot, although they improved on last season, where they won just 28 games.
The 1969–70 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1969–70 season.
 The team played its home games at Crisler Arena on the school's campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
 Under the direction of head coach Johnny Orr, the team finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten Conference.
 The team was unranked the entire season in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll, and it also ended the season unranked in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.
 The team lost to all three ranked opponents that it faced.
 Rudy Tomjanovich served as team captain and earned team MVP.
 Over the course of the season Tomjanovich led the conference in rebounding with a 16.2 average in conference games.
 Tomjanovich was a 1970 NCAA All-American.
 During the season, Tomjanovich broke Bill Buntin's school career records for total (1037) and average rebounds (13.13) by posting 1039 and 14.43.
The Breaks of the Game is a 1981 sports book written by Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Halberstam about the Portland Trail Blazers' 1979–1980 season.
 The Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team which plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
 Aside from a recap of the Blazers' season, the book attempts to give a detailed history of the NBA, the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers championship team, the injuries faced by departed star Bill Walton, and the life of Kermit Washington after his two-month suspension for punching Rudy Tomjanovich.
 The book also puts basketball into a social context and contains extensive discussion on race in the NBA.
Nevil Shed (born April 26, 1943 in Bronx, New York) is a former basketball player.
 He attended Morris High school in 1962.
 He was a member of the Texas Western Miners (now named University of Texas at El Paso) team that won the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament national championship.
 The team was coached by Don Haskins.
 The Miners made history for being the first team to start an all-African American lineup in the championship game.
 His basketball nickname was "The Shadow". "
Glory Road", a 2006 Disney film, chronicles the team's journey; Shed is played by Al Shearer.
 After playing at Texas Western, Shed was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the fourth round of the 1967 NBA draft (his name is listed as Neville Shed).
 His career ended when he tore up his leg while attempting a lay-up at a game in training camp.
 Because of that, he never played in the NBA or in other leagues.
 He later became an assistant coach for Haskins at Texas Western.
 Shed is currently working at a Spurs Camp in San Antonio, Texas.
The 1991–92 NBA season was the Rockets' 25th season in the National Basketball Association, and 21st season in the city of Houston.
 The Rockets started the season defeating the Los Angeles Lakers at The Summit in double-overtime 126–121, and got off to a fast start winning nine of their first twelves games.
 However, they would start to struggle losing five consecutive games afterwards.
 By February 21, they hovered at .500 with a mediocre 27–27 record when head coach Don Chaney was fired and replaced with Rudy Tomjanovich.
 Under Tomjanovich, the Rockets would win eleven of their first 15 games.
 However, they struggled losing ten of their last 15 games including three straight to close the season finishing third in the Midwest Division with a 42–40 record, missing the playoffs by just one game behind the 8th-seeded Lakers, who were without Magic Johnson who had retired due to HIV.
 Hakeem Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe were both selected for the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.
 Following the season, Buck Johnson signed as a free agent with the Washington Bullets.

Question: Which National Basketall Association (NBA) team won the championship the year Rudy Tomjanovich's career ended?
Answer: the 1976–77 Portland Trail Blazers championship team