Robert Horry wrote a piece with different stories in his NBA career about his time with the Houston Rockets, Lakers, and Spurs.
For any NBA fan Horry is known as “Big Shot Rob” the 7 time NBA champion that has the clutch gene since day 1, and may have been one of the best role players to play the game.
In his article he discussed his time with the Lakers coming to an end which after Horry and the Lakers failed to win their fourth straight championship the two split up and it wasn’t pretty for Horry.
With Phil, his ability to coach Michael Jordan and the success that he was able to lead those Bulls teams to is why he commanded so much respect from players. The titles Phil won in Chicago translated into titles in Los Angeles. His six rings is what made Shaq get into the gym and become one of the most dominant forces in league history. However, as dominant as we were in that three-peat run, I feel we could’ve done more if it weren’t for egos and complacency. Honestly, I left the Lakers with so much hatred for that team. I felt that the way they handled my situation was so wrong. I remember going into the exit meetings after we had won the title and it was my year to opt out. You walk into the meeting and everyone is hugging you, kissing you, praising you.
I said, “I know I make too much money and I know you’ve got a hard-on for Karl Malone.” They had been wanting him for five years, ever since Phil got there. I’m a realist. Tell me like it is and I will respect you more, just don’t go behind my back. I told them I’d stay for $2 million, but they weren’t interested. All I asked them was to allow me to find a team before the money dried up and not to wait until the last day to release me. They told me, “We won’t do you like that.”
Well, they didn’t do me like that. They waited until the next to last day to release me.
It’s pretty surprising that the Lakers would hurt Robert Horry’s chances of getting more money on the market, but the NBA being a business like Horry said is it really that surprising?
The Lakers were more than likely trying to trade Horry or were holding onto him in hopes of a contender putting themselves out of position to sign Horry, which failed since Horry signed with the San Antonio Spurs where he would go on to win yet another NBA championship.
Horry’s article is certainly worth a read giving you some excellent stories on and off the court. Horry also discussed the topics of Kobe Bryant being the hardest working player he’s ever seen which is not a surprise and Rudy Tomjanovich being the best head coach he’s ever had.
Horry gives a brief but honest article which makes this a good read for any NBA fan.
