‘Big Shot Rob’ Do you know the name? Robert Horry was drafted by Houston Rockets with the 11th pick of the 1992 Draft. Little did Horry know, that it was the beginning of a career that would see him collect a total of 7 Championship Rings. Horry, had a little something called the ‘Clutch Gene’ and I’m going to break down his career into 3 phases for you.
Phase 1: The Houston Rockets
In Horry’s Rookie season, he averaged 10.1 points, 5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. The Rockets had found themselves a young athletic player with a high basketball IQ and it didn’t take long for Horry to taste success. In just his second season, the Rockets went on to win the 1993-94 NBA Championship, and it was here that we began to see the early stages of Horry’s playoff prowess. The Rockets would go back-to-back winning the 1994-95 Championship, and Horry took his playoff scoring averages to 13.1 points per game and shoot 40% from 3. These stats were well up on his regular season statistics. We were just seeing the beginnings of ‘Big Shot Rob’.
Phase 2: The Los Angeles Lakers
Horry was traded from Houston during the 1997-98 season to the Phoenix Suns, he only spent 32 games there before he was again traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, a place he would become a cult hero. If you were to just simply looked at Robert Horry’s regular season statistics at his time at the Lakers, you’d think here is a guy who can play a basic role of the bench for a team in the NBA. But it was when the ‘Big Lights’ came on and the pressure of key moments in Playoff basketball arrive, that ‘Big Shot Rob’ came to the fore. The Lakers went on to a 3-peat of NBA Championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and they could not have done it without the services of Robert Horry. Enter Robert Horry’s biggest clutch moment for the Lakers:
The dagger 3, that broke the hearts of the Sacramento Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals:
Watch Horry’s game winner against the Kings here:
Horry game winner against the Kings
Phase 3: The San Antonio Spurs
When Horry became a free agent at the end of the 2003 season, The Spurs were quick to snap him up. They knew exactly what Horry would bring to the table for their franchise. It didn’t take long to pay off, as the Spurs would win the 2005 NBA Championship, in Horry’s second year at the franchise. Boy did Horry rise to the occasion once again leading an amazing performance in game 5 of the NBA finals, against the Detroit Pistons scoring 21 points in the 4th and overtime including the game winning shot.
Watch Horry’s game winner against the Pistons here:
Horry wins it against the Pistons
Horry would get his 7th ring in 2007, when the Spurs again won the NBA Championship completing one of the most successful careers you’d hope to have as an NBA player. ‘Big Shot Rob’ will now live in infamy as one of the most clutch performers of all time. He broke the hearts of many opposition fans, but also won the hearts of many fans, as you just knew in those big moments he would deliver, and deliver he did!
Fun Facts:
Horry hit 7 big shots inside the last minute of Playoff games across his career, that helped win the game for his teams.
Horry wore the numbers 25 and 5 during his NBA career.
NBA Time Machine 