By the time the Rockets beat the Suns in Game 5 of their second-round series, fans had adopted the "Clutch City" moniker. (Tim Johnson/Associated Press) Jhair Romero Tue, October 27, 2026 at 9:21 PM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join us on a journey to better understand Houston, one question at a time. Sign up to get the Houston Explained newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday.
With time running out in the Rockets' matchup against the Spurs last Friday in Austin, San Antonio superstar Victor Wembanyama was inches away from tying the game. But Houston's Amen Thompson met him at the rim, leapt to the heavens (for Wembanyama is, respectfully, freakishly tall) and swatted Wemby's layup away to seal the win.
Watching and rewatching that now-viral moment , which a Spurs player described as "one out of a million," I was reminded of the photo at the top of this newsletter, and the nickname Houston basketball fans have embraced since the Rockets' 1994 championship run: Clutch City.
I was not yet a Houstonian, nor was I even born, when the moniker was impressed into the city's sporting history, but I have lived here long enough to know that Houston truly embodies it, on and off the court.
So I started digging into how the name came to be, and I found that Clutch City owes its existence, at least in part, to an infamous two-word headline the newspaper I work for splashed across the first page of its sports section in May 1994 . One that called the city something far less flattering.
The headline ran on May 12, 1994, the morning after the Rockets blew a 20-point fourth-quarter lead in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Phoenix Suns at The Summit (now Lakewood Church).
The phrase "Choke City" was first written by longtime Chronicle sports columnist Fran Blinebury, and the name ran in the Chronicle's sports section in bold letters.
Harsh as it was, it wasn't entirely wrong.
Houston sports fans had spent years watching their teams fall apart in big moments. There was, of course, the Oilers' painful loss to the Buffalo Bills in 1993, when Houston squandered a 35-3 lead and lost in overtime . And the Rockets themselves had been knocked out in overtime of a Game 7 in Seattle the year prior.
So when the Rockets let a big lead slip away in Game 1 of the Suns series, too, and then lost again at home in Game 2, fans seemed to know exactly how the story would end.
Making matters worse, after Game 1, Rockets guard Vernon Maxwell had called out fans for not filling The Summit.
"Our fans are the worst," Maxwell told reporters. "And you can write that. Tell them I said that. To hell with them."
Rockets fans packed the arena for Game 2, only to watch it happen all over again.
The memorable "Choke City" headline from May 12, 1994, after the Rockets blew a 20-point fourth quarter lead to lose Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals to the Suns was the product of years of Houston sports frustration. (Houston Chronicle)
Before the team flew to Phoenix for Games 3 and 4, guard Kenny Smith , better known among my generation for "Inside the NBA" than his heroics with the Rockets, wrote "Two Wins" on his shoes as a reminder of the job ahead. And Mario Elie wrote "Choke City" on his.
Houston won both road games, prompting former owner Les Alexander to tell a team exec that, "It's Clutch City, not Choke City." The Rockets went on to beat the Suns in seven.
So "Clutch City" became a rallying cry, carrying the team and its fans through a five-game Western Conference Finals win over the Utah Jazz and through the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. It ended on June 22, 1994, with Hakeem Olajuwon named Finals MVP and the Rockets relishing in their first NBA championship.
The Rockets introduced a mascot bear named Clutch , and the following season the team lived up to the nickname all over again, rallying from a 3-1 deficit against the Suns in the second round on the way to a second straight title.
Gleason Elementary School students react as they watch Houston Rockets' mascot, Clutch, as he visits their school, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, in Houston. (Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle)
There's more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at How did 'Clutch City' become an iconic Houston nickname? Thank the Houston Chronicle. .
Source: Sports
0 Comments