10 Oldest NBA franchises EVER

The NBA has been around since 1946, founded initially as the BAA, the Basketball Association of America. Three years later, it absorbed the National Basketball League and renamed itself as the National Basketball Association. Not all the charter members of the league in 1946 survived for long, in fact, only 3 of them still play in the league today.

Here, we rank the oldest teams in the league. Can you guess the 3 founding members?

Houston Rockets, 1967

The Houston Rockets were founded in 1967 by Robert Breitbard and were originally based in San Diego. The team, however, wasn't really successful and low attendances meant they were sold to a Texas group which relocated the team to Houston in 1971. The early years in Houston were nothing to brag about either and it was not until 1979 when George Maloof purchased the team that they started becoming successful. While he died the following year, his son took over and it was during this time that the team reached it's 1st NBA Finals, in which they lost to the Boston Celtics (1981).

The team was then sold to Charlie Thomas in 1982 and it was under his leadership that the team drafted Hakeem Olajuwon, who would go down as the greatest player in Rockets history. They enjoyed early success, reaching the Finals in 1986, only to lose to Boston again. The following years were lean, but Leslie Alexander purchased the team in 1993 and their fortunes flipped. The Rockets won back-to-back titles in 1994 & 95, led by Olajuwon and a solid supporting cast. That was it, however, in terms of success for Houston. Since then, the Rockets have been known for consistent regular-season respectability followed by Playoff underachievement.

The Rockets are under new ownership now after Tillman Fertitta, who purchased the team last year. They look like contenders again this season, but doubts persist regarding how far they'll go in the Playoffs.