MUMBAI: Sometimes, being great in the NBA is just not enough. Just take the case of
LeBron James. The Los Angeles frontman has played in the last eight NBA finals but has only three rings in his collection.
But
Robert Horry
, who played for four NBA teams and won seven rings, says NBA history has always seen such characters.
"LeBron is plain unlucky. He is a great player who pulls in more weight than expected, but he has always run into teams that were better than his teams. Lakers swept him when he reached his first finals, then Dallas Mavericks were the better side against Miami. In the last four years, he lost to a better Golden State Warriors team three times," said Horry.
Horry, who started his NBA career with Houston in 1992, cited some examples too. "In the mid-90s, New York's Patrick Ewing ran into Houston's
Hakeem Olajuwon
, Utah's duo of
Karl Malone
and
John Stockton
ran into
Michael Jordan's Chicago, so was the case of
Kevin Johnson of Cleveland Cavaliers," he explained. He feels LeBron has a bigger problem now that he has moved to the Western Conference. "There are a lot of teams that can challenge the dominance of three-times champions Warriors. There is New Orleans, then there is Lakers with LeBron. You cannot ignore the Houston or even the San Antonio. They have always been strong," feels Horry.
Horry, who played as a forward, said he feels the big centres are absent in the game unlike his time when Hakeem (Houston),
Shaquille O'Neal
(Lakers) and
Tim Duncan
(San Antonio) dominated the game.
He is also mortified by the fact that three pointers have become so fashionable that even the power forwards or the centres are trying to be good at it. "You don't need to do that. You continue to play low post and score the mid-range shots. Time is such that if you are a big guy and you can't shoot a three you are not considered good. The trend of big guys attempting three is good but the game is losing the centres."
Horry considers his 1995 win with Houston as special, not his three-peat with Lakers in 2000-2002 or the 2005 or 2007 titles with San Antonio. "With Kobe (Bryant) and Shaq (O'Neal) in your team, you are supposed to win the title, get home court advantage. So was the case in 2005 and 2007, we were the best team. Houston's 1995 title victory was special because we won despite not having home court advantage," he explains.
Horry, who was known to hit the buzzer-beaters and playing better in play-off season, explained the process behind it. "Play-offs were special time of the year. I used to eat right, sleep right, drink right. I did not even take calls from my family members. I would put myself in a box. I was a totally different beast in play-offs," he revealed.
"We all love a good pay cheque so if we go deep into the playoff we get more money through bonuses. We need motivation to play better than. If money is the motivation to play better, so be it," Horry said.
Stay updated with the latest from IPL Auction 2025, including the final squads of all 10 teams – MI, CSK, RCB, GT, RR, KKR, DC, PBKS, SRH, and LSG. Don't miss the latest updates on our Live Cricket Score page.
Start a Conversation
Post comment