A True Hall of Fame Basketball Player

I've been a proud Lakers fan for 13 years, ever since I first heard the name Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were awesome in the 2000s. They had Shaq, Kobe, Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, and, who couldn't forget Robert Horry. He was a fan favorite, and the best clutch shooter I have ever seen play the game. I will never forget May of 2002 when Robert Horry made that shot over Chris Webber's hand to seal a victory. I'll never forget the crowd's hands go up in the air simultaneously, I'll never forget Robert Horry turning to the bench, his hands curled up behind his back, the stern look on his face, hopping around like a rabbit as his teammates swarmed him. Some would say you've got to be a scorer and make a bunch of All-Star games to make it to the Hall of Fame. But does that win you championships? It didn't for Karl Malone, John Stockton, Dirk Nowitski, or Pete Maravich. I'll go down the list of Horry's accomplishments and tell you why I'm putting in my vote for him to make it to the Hall.

First off, Robert Horry had seven NBA championships. Seven. Only eight other players have done that in history, and those eight players played for the Celtics in the 1960s when the Celtics didn't have any competition. Other than them, Robert Horry stands alone as the most accomplished winner in the NBA for the past 40 years. He's one of three players to win consecutive championships with three different teams. He did that with the Rockets, Lakers, and Spurs. He's the all-time leader in playoff games played. He's second on the all-time list with threes made in the playoffs (Reggie Miller holds first place, not Michael Jordan). He holds the record with the most threes in the NBA Finals with 53. Michael Jordan came in second with 42. He had eleven more threes than Michael Jordan did. Remember that fact. We'll get back to that later. Despite all of these playoff statistics, his career averages are 7.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. Most would call that average. That's almost identical with Kwame Brown's career statistics, and he's the biggest bust in NBA history!

Now it's all looking like this is starting to get a little counter productive. I'm guessing you haven't noticed his top 8 clutch moments in his career, which look to be some of the best shots/performances that we've ever seen out of an NBA player. Hey, they don't call him Big Shot Rob for nothing. I won't mention all 8 of them, but I'll break down his best ones.

The first one happened on May 22, 1995, his third year in the league. It was the Western Conference Finals in Game 1, and his Houston Rockets were battling against the San Antonio Spurs. Horry hit a jumper with 6.5 seconds remaining in the game, preserving a 94-93 win, allowing the Rockets to escape by the skin of their teeth.

Another great one happened on April 22, 2002 in the Western Conference First Round Game 3, with Horry's Lakers battling the Portland Trailblazers. The Lakers were down by two with 10.2 seconds left, and Kobe kicked it out to Horry, who hit a huge three and sealed the win.

And Robert Horry's greatest happened on May 26, 2002 in the Western Conference Finals Game 4. The Lakers were playing the Sacramento Kings, lead by Chris Webber and Mike Bibby. The Kings were about to close out the series, when Vlade Divac went up for a rebound, and his ricocheted off his fingers and right into the clutches of Horry at the top of the paint. With one second remaining, Horry took the shot, with Chris Webber flying in his face, and drilled the three, keeping the Lakers alive for one more game. Horry turned to the bench and started hopping around, his teammates piling on top of him. The Lakers came back to win the series, and eventually won the championship that year.

Robert Horry was the most clutch player in NBA history. Not many people doubt that. Some say, "Oh, well he was just on really good teams. They would've been fine without him." But out of those 8 fantastic performances in the playoffs, how many championships do you think those teams would've won? If he hadn't hit that shot at the top of the key against the Kings in 2002, the Lakers would've never gotten the three-peat. If he hadn't hit the clutch one in 1995 against the Spurs, they would've never won either. Robert Horry was the man that secretly won those championships for those teams in the 1990s and early 2000s. And he kept doing it in 2007 when the Spurs won their 4th under Greg Popavich. And plus, I haven't even mentioned the clutch shots he made in the regular season. Sure, Magic, Larry, Kobe, Jordan and Reggie have all been known for their clutch shots, but they weren't like Robert Horry. Like I said earlier, Horry had 53 three pointers in the NBA Finals during his career. No one has come close to that. Robert Horry had ice in his vains. He was a cold-blooded shooter, and could hit the big one anytime, any place. Robert Horry's case for the Hall of Fame is a very special one. He didn't score all that much in the regular season, but when he did, it was always special. But think about this: what if he wasn't surrounded by all those great players? You think his averages would've been higher? He was on teams that were stacked with talent. Horry didn't even start when the Spurs took the title in 2007. If Horry was given the opportunity to run a team of his own, don't you think he would've been a regular All-Star? I sure think so.

With all this being said, Robert Horry goes down as one of my top 3 favorite players in NBA history, along with Kobe Bryant and "Pistol" Pete Maravich. He's definitely getting my vote for the Hall of Fame, and I'm sure many others will vote for him as well.

Be sure to leave comments on what you think. God bless you all.

The Donkey