-- An NBA player who played from 1977 -- 1992. Career averages: 19 pts, 4 ast, 3 reb, 51% FG, and 85% FT shooter. A 6-time NBA All-Star and his teams made the playoffs 10 of 15 years. Who am I?
-- An NBA player who played from 1967 -- 1977. Career averages: 12 pts, 3 ast, 3 reb, 45% FG, and 84% FT shooter. A 1-time NBA All-Star and his teams made the playoffs 8 of 10 years. Who am I?
Without telling you the name of either player (I'm sure you'll have fun guessing or looking it up), I'll tell you Player 1 IS NOT in the Hall of Fame and Player 2 IS in the Hall of Fame. And no, Player 2 isn't one of the Boston bums. It is pretty easy to figure out that stats alone, or championships alone, or anything alone is enough to get someone in the Hall of Fame. Which is why I think when stats get brought into the equation of Robert Horry, the point is completely missed. People who yell, "the guy has 7 freakin' championships" and hang the entire argument on that notion completely miss the point.
Robert Horry was more than 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists, and he was more than a role player on 7 championships. Horry was the embodiment of the intangibles. Something that is intangible, means its hard to define, hard to quantify. There is no statistical wand to neatly express the effect, its intangible. Clutch, for instance is intangible, its hard to quantify. Sure you can crunch some numbers (and 82games.com did) and calculate the percentage of FGs someone makes in the final 60 seconds of games that are within 5 points and so on and so forth. When 82games.com did the analysis they came up with Carmelo Anthony being the greatest clutch player in the NBA that year. Who hear is ready to dawn the title of all-time great clutch player to Carmelo Anthony? I know I'm not. So clutch is very hard to define. Its an intangible quality some people have and some people don't. This was one the many intangible qualities Horry had. Was it the most memorable quality? You betcha! Your average basketball fan or your average sport enthusiast remembers the Sacramento shot. They remember the Game 5 against Detroit shot in 2005. People also remember the infamous--the hip check of Nash into the scoreboard. (say what you will about the play, in many observer's eyes it advanced the Spurs passed the Suns)
But do they remember the momentum changing 3-pointer in Quarter 2 of Game whatever that pushed a Laker lead to 4 when the other team had cut the lead to 1. No. Do they remember non-descript, routine, knock away of Nash's dribble that leads to a Spurs fast break in the 4th quarter as the Suns were trying to grab a crucial playoff game from the Spurs? No. How about a momentum changing offensive rebound as Houston improbably fought to keep themselves alive in Game 5 in 1994? No Horry's career is literally a life-size mosaic of small, timely, plays, in the most crucial of moments that reverbate forevermore in the annals of NBA history as 7 Championship Victories across 2 decades and 3 different teams.
The single late game heroics of Robert Horry are no more significant to his career accomplishments as a singular piece of ceramic is to a grand Carthaginian mosaic. Sure its what's memorable, but I'd wager many of those games Horry played in wouldn't be within a field goal's worth of victory without the crucial steal he makes in the 1 st quarter, the confidence shattering dunk he stuffs out of nowhere, the demoralizing offensive rebound he snatches from the team fighting for every possession. Horry simply had an intangible knack for making the plays (any play: the block, the steal, the rebound, the dunk, the 3-pointer, the assist) at crucial times in crucial games. Blessed with a high basketball IQ, first rate athleticism, and an extremely coordinated 6'9 frame, he consistently came up big almost every single time his team called on him.
I don't have to take anybody's word for it the importance of Robert Horry to any of those teams. Not his proponents or his detractors. I simply look at the facts, every coach he had; from the mediocre Danny Ainge to the motivating Tomjanovich, to the Game Manager Phil Jackson, to the invariable Gregg Popovich made ample and consistent use of Robert Horry in the most crucial of times (playoffs) in the most crucial of moments. Even at the end of his career with 2 bad knees, a chronic lower back, and both feet in the grave Popovich made sure Horry was there at crucial times of playoff games because no one had the intelligence, the saavy, the ability, and the track record of making the plays that need to be made for any team to succeed. I, once again, place great emphasis on the fact that it could be ANY play, not just the final one and not just a field goal. Horry had a knack for making not the steal, the game-changing steal, not the three, the momentum-breaking three, the heart-sinking rebound, etc. Coaches knew that Playoffs were Horry time which is why his career minutes are 24 mpg during the season and 28 mpg during the playoffs.
Horry also adapted his game to fit whatever role was most conducive to his team's success. After one Houston Rockets championship, teams figured out Houston was running a bastardized version of the Lakers old half-court system. Dump to Kareem, set 4 three point shooters when they double Kareem. Well let's see, you can't leave Kenny Smith open, you can't leave (Vernon Maxwell/Clyde Drexler) open, you can't leave Mario Elie open, well lets see if their PF can sink a shot. Horry develops into a 3 point shooter that season improving from 32% to 38% and tripling the amount of makes/game. When Houston needed a 3-point shooting big man, Horry fit the role to a tee. Phil Jackson made use of Horry's size and quickness to guard the low-post defensively and hover the perimeter offensively, crashing the offensive boards when any shot went up. When the Lakers needed the versatility, Horry fit the role to a tee. The Spurs needed a player to understand the exacting offense, make precision entry passes and defend in transition; from BOTH forward spots, Horry fit the role to a tee.
Some go so far as to say Robert Horry is the greatest role player of all time. I am not sure about that statement especially if one were to label players like Dennis Rodman or Robert Parish as role players. Some say no role player deserves to be in the hall simply being labeled as such. I believe the Hall of Fame should represent the exceptional, no matter what the type of accomplishment, so long as the exceptionality bears victory. After all, in the end, winning is what matters, not scoring titles, or all-NBA selections. The truth of the matter, Horry is the greatest winner of his generation and his accomplishments' effect on the outcomes withstand objective scrutiny. When one player succeeds as consistently, over as long a time, and in as many different situations as Robert Horry, should not the common denominator at last be given the due credit. Not only do the championships, but the intangibles set Horry apart in history.
