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Robert Reid, who starred for a Houston Rockets team that made the NBA Finals in 1981 and 1986, died Monday at the age of 68.
The Rockets confirmed Reid’s passing.
Houston Rockets @HoustonRockets
The Fertitta Family and the Houston Rockets are deeply saddened by the passing of former player, Robert Reid, whose contributions were instrumental in guiding the Houston Rockets to their first two NBA Finals appearances in 1980-81 and 1985-86. pic.twitter.com/6fc5dyLqDA
Per Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, Reid died of cancer.
Reid played 13 NBA seasons, the first 10 of which came with the Rockets, who selected the 6’8″ forward with a second-round pick in the 1977 NBA draft out of St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.
His best season was 1980-81, when he finished third on the team in scoring (15.9 PPG), second in rebounds (7.1 RPG) and first in steals (2.0 SPG).
That Rockets team snuck into the playoffs with a 40-42 record but engineered an underdog run to the NBA Finals that began with a first-round series victory over the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Rockets, who also featured Hall of Famers Moses Malone and Calvin Murphy, then faced Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Reid dropped 27 points in Game 1 to lead all scorers, but the C’s pulled out a 98-95 win. Houston fought hard against the heavily favored C’s but fell in six games.
Reid played one more season before retiring in 1982 to devote more time to his Pentecostal faith. He returned one year later and didn’t show any rust en route to 14.0 PPG in 1983-84.
Two seasons later, the Rockets returned to the NBA Finals in part because of Reid, who led all Houston reserves with 12.0 PPG. Reid ended up joining the starting lineup for good by the end of the regular season, playing alongside Hall of Famer Akeem (now Hakeem) Olajuwon.
Like in 1981, the defending NBA champion Lakers stood in their way of making the championship round. This time around, Houston had to face the 62-win Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.
The Rockets stunned the Lakers, though, defeating them in five. Reid did his part with 14.6 PPG, including 23 in a Game 4 win.
His best moment occurred in Game 5, though, when he hit a corner three with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 112. After the Lakers came up empty, Rockets center Ralph Sampson hit the game-winner with no time left to send Houston to the championship.
Thanks in part to Reid, the Rockets prevented the Lakers from winning the Western Conference in all 10 NBA seasons ending in the 1980s. L.A. won eight, while Houston took the other two.
Boston awaited Houston again and beat the Rockets in six again. But Reid was great in the two wins, dropping 20 points and nine assists in Game 3 and 13 points and 17 assists in Game 5.
Reid played two more seasons with the Rockets before joining the expansion Charlotte Hornets in 1988. He rounded out his career with the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers before retiring for good.
Per ESPN News Services, Reid sits fourth in Rockets history in “games played (762), fifth in steals (881), eighth in points (8,823) and rebounds (3,706), ninth in blocks (364) and 10th in assists (2,253).”
After his career ended, Reid was heavily involved in the community, per Jyesha Johnson of Fox 26 Houston:
“After retirement, Reid remained active in his community and dedicated himself to charitable causes. While he may have stepped away from the spotlight of the NBA, his impact on the game and his legacy as a player committed to his principles endure.”
He also shared his love of basketball through coaching in numerous professional leagues and in clinics around the world. Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram offered more insight in 2013.
“A second-round pick by the Rockets in ’77, Reid has been an assistant coach in the Continental Basketball Association, American Basketball Association, United States Basketball League, and in Hungary, and has worked basketball clinics in India, Spain and the Canary Islands. Brown believes it’s only a matter of time before the Schertz High School product is sitting on an NBA bench as a coach.”
He also coached at Ranger College, where head coach Larry Brown noted his humility and compassion toward others.
“He comes out here and he’s the dorm director over there, and he cooks for the players. Over Thanksgiving, he cooked turkey and ham. Every night on Monday Night Football he has a cookout where he’ll have a Cajun boil or something. He just loves working with kids and is always trying to help them with their goals in life and basketball, and it’s been just a good fit for all of us in here to try to build something at Ranger.”
Per ABC 13 Houston, Reid is survived by his wife, Diana, and four children (Robert Jr., Keva, Crystal and Jana).
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