The team was established in 1967 as the San Diego Rockets. In 1971, the Rockets relocated to Houston.

At 7 ft 6 in, Yao Ming is the tallest player to play in at least one All-Star Game. He is also tallest player inducted into the Hall of Fame.

With the first overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft, the Rockets picked 7-foot-4 phenom Ralph Sampson. As a rookie, he averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds, played in the All-Star Game, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, but the Rockets managed only a 29-53 record, which qualified them to pick first again in the 1984 NBA draft. This time, they picked 7 ft 0 in center Hakeem Olajuwon out of the University of Houston. Many observers criticized the choice, believing two 7-footers would not be effective playing together, while others thought the combination could be overpowering. In 1984-85, with the help of the "Twin Towers", the Rockets improved by 19 games to 48-34 and made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

Hakeem Olajuwon retired as the all-time league leader in total blocked shots with 3,830, but he also had a unique talent (for a frontcourt player) for stealing the ball. In 1988-89, he recorded 213 steals and 282 blocked shots.

On January 16, 2019, the Houston Rockets shot an NBA-record 70 3s, but made just 23, falling to the Brooklyn Nets 142-145.

In his first season as head coach, Rick Adelman guided the Rockets to a 22-game winning streak from January through March 2008, the fourth-longest winning streak in NBA history.

In the 1994 NBA Finals, the Rockets defeated the New York Knicks in seven games to claim their first championship. The Rockets' had made two previous appearances in the NBA finals in 1981 and 1986, both of which they lost to the Boston Celtics.

On December 12, 2004, the Rockets needed 13 points to top the Spurs 81-80, and Tracy McGrady provided them in one of the most memorable performances of his career, a 35-second sequence that included four consecutive three-pointers, one of which was part of a four-point play and the last of which was a game-winner in the final two seconds.

Only four players in the history of the NBA have managed to produce a quadruple-double. Hakeem Olajuwon did it twice in one month--first on March 3, 1990, when he recorded 29 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, and 11 blocks against the Golden State Warriors, then again on March 29, 1990, when he recorded 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, and 11 blocks against the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 2016-17, James Harden became the first player in NBA history to finish the regular season with at least 2,000 points (2,356), 900 assists (907) and 600 rebounds (659).