For 13 years, Daryl Morey has been the face of the Houston Rockets.
Yes, they had giant stars in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. They eventually acquired James Harden as he turned himself into a historic figure. They brought in Chris Paul to help him become a contender and then pivoted to Russell Westbrook to attempt to Euro-step Father Time in the star-having process. Throughout this entire Morey era in Houston though, he’s been the front-facing presence throughout every pivot they’ve had.
It was never former team governor Les Alexander. Harden is a superstar in this league, but he rarely commands the media like a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant type of star. Westbrook isn’t the face of the franchise with Harden holding the reins. And even the Yao and T-Mac era toward the end didn’t have these oft-injured titans of the industry dominating as the voice of the organization. Morey was always willing to be that person. Complain about…
