Jun
15
Robert Horry Has Now Surpassed (Gulp) Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen!
After the San Antonio Spurs gritted out an ugly 83-82 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Four of the 2007 NBA Finals to win its fourth and least impressive title in the last nine years, Robert Horry flashed seven of his digits to represent what he had just accomplished.
With seven championship titles under his belt, Horry has surpassed Chicago Bulls’ greats Michael Jordan and Scottie, who won six titles in eight years in the nineties. Horry has gone from a key cog on the back-to-back champion Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995 to being a valuable reserve during the Lakers’ three-peat from 2000 through 2002 and the Spurs’ last two titles in 2005 and this season.
While Horry will be praised as one of the greatest winners and clutch players in the history of the NBA Finals, one must not forget how Big Shot Bobby sold his soul to get Title Number Seven. San Antonio may not had advanced to the NBA Finals to play this horrible Cavs team had it not been for Horry’s body shot of Phoenix Suns’ star point guard Steve Nash at the end of Game Four of the second round series between the teams.
At that point, the Suns had just evened up the series at two games apiece in San Antonio and were heading back to Phoenix with home court advantage once again. However, Horry’s uncalled cheap shot of Nash late in the game provoked a natural reaction from Phoenix stud big man Amare Stoudemire and valuable reserve Boris Diaw, whom both temporarily left the bench before being pulled back by assistant coaches. Even the classy Nash took exception to be checked into the boards and went after Horry.
The NBA, of course, has a smart rule in which a player is to be automatically suspended for one game if he is to leave the bench during an altercation on the floor. The NBA thus suspended Stoudemire and Diaw for Game Five, which the Suns lost at home before bowing out in Game Six in San Antonio.
The NBA’s decision to suspend Stoudemire and Diaw was not without controversy as the two players did nothing to escalate the incident. While former players called for a change to the rule, the NBA is apparently and sadly going to stick with its current interpretation as is.
So as people talk about the Spurs being a dynasty after winning their fourth title, it’s funny how not one announcer on ABC mentioned the Horry cheap shot and how much of an impact it had on the playoffs. In my opinion, this already-unimpressive Spurs’ title has been tainted by the goony Horry.
But for Horry, it doesn’t matter. He’s got his seventh ring and will always be able to say that he won more championships than Jordan and Pippen. But will he be able to sleep at night?
Of course, he will as Horry is a figment of his old self as a player and must rely on such tactics to be truly effective.
While Horry garnered his nickname for his history of game-winning shots in the playoffs, the 2007 postseason gave a new interpretation to this moniker. Horry’s cheap shot should be noted by an asterisk next to the Spurs’ 2007 title in the NBA record books as it not only changed the course of a series but also the potential for a different champion.
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