Daryl Morey stepping down as GM of Rockets

The Houston Rockets are currently searching for a new head coach after parting ways with Mike D’Antoni, and they will now have to replace their general manager as well.

Daryl Morey has informed the Rockets that he is stepping down as GM, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. He and Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta are said to have quietly worked through an exit agreement after Houston was eliminated from the NBA bubble in Orlando.

Morey will remain in an advisory role for the Rockets for the time being to assist with their head coaching search. While he is not ruling out working for another NBA team, Morey is reportedly going to explore other career opportunities and spend time with his children, who are both college-age and taking a year off from school amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rockets will promote executive vice president of basketball operations Rafael Stone to GM and Eli Witus to assistant GM.

There had been talk about the Rockets potentially firing Morey after he sent a tweet expressing support for protestors in Hong Kong last year. China’s communist government was furious that Morey supported the pro-Democratic movement, which put the NBA in an uncomfortable position. The NBA makes billions of dollars from China.

The Rockets have reached the postseason eight straight years under Morey, which is the longest streak in the NBA. He has been with the team since the 2007-08 season.

Some within the NBA community supported Morey when he received backlash for his Hong Kong tweet, while others like LeBron James failed to live up to their self-proclaimed social justice warrior status. You can see what LeBron had to say about the topic here.