His Phoenix stint lasted all of thirty-two games before he was sent to the Lakers. He joined a stacked Lakers team with Kobe and Shaq. They three-peated between and , with Horry playing critical roles in each title. San Antonio brought on more success: he won two more titles there before retiring after He hit multiple game-winners and is known as one of the most clutch performers in NBA history—an unbelievable feat, especially for someone who is a career 7-points a game scorer.
Yes, luck played a part, but he made the most of it and was a key ingredient on each title squad. While he was only a seven-point scorer for his career, Horry always seemed to step it up a notch in the Playoffs. His first title season set the tone that Horry was someone his teammates could count on under the spotlight. He averaged 12 points in the Playoffs and was also a force passing the ball and on the boards.
He stepped it up again under the big stage, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Finals. During Game 2, he almost had a triple-double with an 11 point, 10 rebounds, and 7 steal statline in an point Rockets win. The Rockets were clinging to a 1-point lead with 30 seconds remaining, and the ball got kicked out to Horry from the post. The Rockets bested the Magic by double-digits in Game 4 for their second title in as many years.
Horry was the second or third option on this team for the Finals and had just captured his second ring in just three years in the league. It took Horry a move to LA and five more years to win his third title. The Lakers had the best record in the league in and came into the playoffs heavy favorites to win it all. However, there remains the earlier fact that he had by far the most Hall-of-Fame help of any of the players.
In terms of help, Jordan received significantly less than any of the other three. Statistically speaking, there can be no argument. Jordan is not only clearly ahead in terms of absolute value. He is also clearly ahead in relative value. However, there will be those who argue that numbers don't tell the whole story. Now, first, I will say that I agree with that. It has been my observation though that generally when people make that argument, they deny the part of the story that the numbers do tell.
Numbers don't tell the whole story, but they do tell a pretty good chunk of it. As to the part that the numbers don't tell, Jordan wins there as well. He's the only one of them who never lost in a finals.
He is the only one who won the finals MVP every time. He's the only one who never played a game seven. He has won two series on a game-winning assist and he's won one series with a game-winning shot. He had the flu game. He had the shrug.
He had the cry. He had not one, but two point finals games. He had eight point games. His "worst" game in the finals was "only" 22 points with four boards and four assists.
When John Hollinger did his best finals performances, Jordan had four of the top 10 slots and five of the top The narrative part of the story is not lost on Michael Jordan. No, the story is not lost there. Nor is it stuck in only the finals. His game itself is what separates him from mere mortals, or even the "demigods," such as Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The most amazing thing about Jordan is that his best help was not Scottie Pippen. It's not to take anything away from Pippen, but it's what Pippen wasn't that makes Jordan extraordinary, and that's a big man.
When you look at every other great team, there's always been a ball handler and distributor on the outside, and a scorer, a big man, on the inside. Jordan was unique in that he served as both. He was the primary ball handler and passer on the team, and he was the primary scorer in the paint. Former Pistons guard Joe Dumars once said that 95 percent of the Bulls' plays are intended for Michael Jordan, and the other five percent end up in his hands anyway.
No other player in NBA history has won multiple championships the way that Jordan did. One could argue that LeBron James has been the same kind of player, but he hasn't won championships. Kobe could score in the paint, but he never won without a great scoring big man. Kareem had Oscar Robertson, and then Magic Johnson.
Michael Jordan had Horace Grant, who had one season where he scored That's the only time in his career where he had a big man score more than 15 points in the playoffs. That's not taking anything away from Pippen. It also says something about him that he was able to be the complement to Jordan, but Jordan was as unique as anyone has ever been in that regard.
Now the last thing you might bring up is that Russell's defense was the primary reason the Celtics won and that has to be taken into account. Well, the same is true of the Bulls. They were one of the elite defensive teams in their era, and Jordan was a big part of the reason why. Since then, Kobe Bryant has tied that record. Yes, Russell played great defense, but he is not the only player on his team who did, nor is he the only player on this list who did.
The reason that Jordan's rings count for more is that he did more than any of the others' in terms of both constant value and relative value, in both the postseason as a whole and in the finals specifically, and in both the stats and the narrative, Jordan is without question, the greatest postseason player of all time, and the greatest player of all time.
Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Player Year Robin Factor Jordan Your sports. Join Newsletter. Robert Horry has won 7 rings having played 16 seasons in the NBA. He has the most rings by a player since the s.
As per Horry, his second ring with the Houston Rockets was the most special one of his career, given that his team was seeded sixth in what was considered a very tough Western Conference.
The game went into overtime. After Shaquille O'Neal fouled out, Kobe Bryant led a late run to seal a victory for the visiting team. Horry finished with 17 points in 37 minutes, his career-high in the Finals. He averaged 7. In the Los Angeles Lakers were the outright favorites and that became pretty apparent when they decimated every team that they met during the postseason.
During that run, Horry started in 14 of the 19 playoff games for the Lakers. It was during this championship run that Robert Horry proved just how clutch he was. In Game 4 against the Sacramento Kings, he hit the game-winning shot to help his team win
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