City of Houston issues proclamation in honor of ex-Rockets big Hayes: 'One of the greatest players in NBA history'

The City of Houston feted one of the city’s most prominent athletes with a proclamation on Tuesday. 

Former Houston Rockets center and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Elvin Hayes was honored during the Houston City Council’s public comment session, a few days ahead of when the Rockets will raise his No. 44 to the rafters at Toyota Center. 

“[One] of the greatest players in NBA history,” the city’s Twitter account shared.

Per the city, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed Saturday, Nov. 19 as Elvin Hayes Day. 

That evening, the Rockets will play the Indiana Pacers and hold a halftime ceremony in honor of the 6-foot-9 Hayes, who’ll celebrate his 77th birthday the day before. 

Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reported that Hayes’ proclamation was among the three the city presented.

Born in Louisiana, Hayes starred at the University of Houston (UH) from 1965 to 1968. 

During his last season in the Third Ward, Hayes and the Cougars figured prominently in what’s considered a watershed moment for men’s college basketball: The so-called “Game of the Century” against the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar née Lewis Alcindor-led University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins at the Astrodome. UH won 71-69 to snap UCLA’s 47-game winning streak. 

Hayes, whose nickname is “Big E,” was selected first in the 1968 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft and went on to craft a career that spanned more than 15 years.

The Rockets have devoted the 2022-2023 campaign to their original home of San Diego, where Hayes’ NBA career took off. 

Houston Daily reported in September that the team will wear the same green and gold uniforms worn by the then-Southern California-based franchise from 1967 to 1971 before the move to Houston. 

Saturday’s game will be the first time the Rockets wear the threads, which is their Hardwood Classics set.