Robert Horry won seven NBA championship rings and was famous for hitting key clutch shots, earning the “Big Shot Bob” nickname during his career. Since he retired from the NBA in 2008, Horry seemingly hasn’t been in the news too much, especially compared to fellow former NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant or Charles Barkley.
Less than a decade after his retirement, Horry has found a way to shoot his shot once again and thrust himself back into the spotlight.
I’ll let Horry tell you why in the form of a comparison between two of his former teammates, Hakeem Olajuwon and Tim Duncan, which he unleashed on ESPN’s The Jump Monday while talking with Rachel Nichols, Stephen Jackson, and Paul Pierce.
Horry: “When we played San Antonio one time and Tim was killing me in the block, Phil refused to double-team Tim to get the ball out of his hands… And Dream was 20 times better than Tim Duncan.”
Horry: “I’ve played with both. I know the work ethic of both. I’ve seen it live. You know —”
Rachel Nichols: “Wait, did you just take a shot at Tim Duncan’s work ethic?!”
Horry: “No, I’m just saying. Like, Kobe’s was the best ever. And I’ve seen these two guys in the gym. I know what Dream brought to practice. I know what Tim brought to practice. I know Tim, he brought work ethic to practice, but it’s an extra level. When you’re a superstar, you have to go the extra level. Not saying Tim’s not a superstar. But what Dream brought to the game is amazing. I don’t think people understand how good Olajuwon was because, here’s the thing, I always tell people to judge a player by what they cannot do. Who would you want on the line at the end of the game, Dream or Tim Duncan?”
Stephen Jackson: “Tim Duncan.”
Horry also didn’t stop at criticizing Duncan.
Nichols: “Truth, you want to weigh in with the truth here?”
Pierce: “Listen, Dream was awesome. Dream was awesome, unbelievable. But he was not 20 times better than Tim Duncan. Not 20 times!”
Horry: “I’m saying you would rather have Dream at the free throw line at the end of a game, and you’re down.”
Pierce: “Dream is lucky Jordan retired. You would only have five rings if Jordan didn’t retire.”
Horry: “Let me just say this: You got yours because, if Manu Ginobili would have did the things he was supposed to do, I would have had like 10 championships.”
Wow. Horry didn’t just take shots at Duncan, he also went after Ginobili!
Here’s the thing about Horry’s quotes about Duncan and Ginobili. The three won two rings while they played together in San Antonio from 2003-2008. So, if Horry thought he could’ve won 10, he would’ve had to win three more during that span. So let’s take a look at what happened each year they played together:
2003-2004: Lost in the conference semifinals to the Los Angeles Lakers. That series the Spurs had a 2-0 lead and squandered it went four straight losses. Hard to blame all four losses on one player.
2004-2005: Won the NBA Finals and Tim Duncan was the Finals MVP. Hard to be mad at Duncan for that.
2005-2006: Lost in the conference semifinals to the Dallas Mavericks in seven games, so maybe part of that could’ve been due to Ginobili. Although Manu did get the Spurs to a game 7 with 30 points and 10 rebounds in game 6.
2006-2007: Won the NBA Finals.
2007-2008: Lost in the conference finals to the Lakers, but Ginobili was the Sixth Man of the Year, meaning he played very well all season. That also makes it harder to pin the blame on him for not winning it all that year.
Long story short, Horry’s theory was just debunked by Nichols, Jackson, Piece, and yours truly in a couple of minutes. Sorry, Horry, you made incredible shots, but don’t try to throw punches at other players who helped you win rings.
