J.A. Adande has written a very in-depth article over at ESPN entitled “There will never be another player quite like Big Shot Rob”. You know what? Adande is absolutely right.

“Big Shot Rob” (a.k.a. “Cheap Shot Rob” and ‘Robert Keith Horry”) has had one of the most unique careers in professional sports today. Horry, like Steve Kerr, Derek Fisher, Mariano Rivera, and Adam Viniteri, are well know for making careers out of last-second heroics that produce game winning results. All three are well known for their championship rings they have earned in their respective sports.

Let’s look at the facts here…

Seven championship rings (only six players in NBA history have more)

One of only three players to win multiple NBA Championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons.

One of two players to win NBA rings with three different teams.

The all-time leader in playoff games played.

Second on the all-time list of three-pointers made in the playoffs.

Holds the record for three-pointers all-time in the NBA Finals with 53.

Holds the NBA Playoffs record for most three-point field goals made in a game without a miss (7).

Robert Horry and Steve Kerr, alternated NBA Championships for a decade. Either Kerr or Horry was on the roster of every NBA Championship team from the 1993-1994 season through the 2002-2003 season. Horry’s teams were victorious in the NBA Finals in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007, while Kerr’s teams were winners in the NBA Finals in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003. Each won three titles playing for Phil Jackson-coached teams and every other championship with a team from Texas, the Spurs or the Rockets. (wikipedia profile of Robert Horry)

Is Robert Horry a future Hall of Famer? Yes, and he deserves it. He is a great player.

Is he a first ballot Hall of Famer? No, and I would have stated the same answer before the two ‘cheap shots”.

Because of the caliber of great players and other famous basketball personalities eligible for the Hall of Fame, I would have stated that Horry would been inducted in the third or fourth year of his eligibility. However, after the ‘incidents’ with Steve Nash and David West? I believe that all it did was to push his apparent induction back to at least his fifth year of eligibility (I would have threw a towel at Danny Ainge myself…). Horry is known for the clutch shots, but the two ‘incidents’ have somehow partially tarnished the glow and aura of Horry’s career for some reason. The main reason is probably because in the past, Horry was never known to, nor did he have to use such tactics to be the player he is.

Adande referred to Horry in his article as a ‘cowboy’ who would ride off into the sunset like the classic western “Shane”. However, I feel as if his career is more like a sniper. He comes in and goes out unnoticed, but his marksmanship accuracy to perform in the clutch and fire the crucial shot with precision affects history and destiny forever.

When “Big Shot Rob” retires (and it maybe after this season), I too like J.A. Adande will miss him. There will never be another player like him who made such an impact and brought championships to the teams he played on. I hope he doesn’t go off quitely like Shane or like the Joe Moore character from the movie “The Heist” and drives away in another car with the real gold for ‘one last job’. I hope he gets recognition for his storied career and is honored by the Rockets, Spurs, and Lakers for his contribution to those teams.