Robert Horry: ‘i Left The Lakers With So Much Hatred For That Team’

LALakersFan4Life · Jun 12, 2015

By Marcel Mutoni

If nothing else, we know that Robert Horry keeps it real. Like, realer than real.

In a fascinanting and revealing piece for The Players’ Tribune, the seven-time NBA champ opens up about playing with Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets; what it was like to be teammates with a young and desperately-hungry Kobe Bryant; and the ruthless, at times ugly business of the NBA that most fans don’t know (or particularly care) about.

Horry says that the Los Angeles Lakers did him dirty with a last-minute release prior to the 2002-03 season:

He would never stop. It was incredible. He practiced until one day, a couple months later, he finally won. If you literally said, “Kobe, I bet you can’t make five in a row by dropping the ball and kicking it in from half court,” that mother****** would go out there and practice it until he could do it. And that’s what people don’t understand when they talk about champions — when they talk about a winner’s mentality. Kobe’s dedication to the game is unreal. And I mean that in the truest sense … it was literally unbelievable. The common denominator in every championship team is the mentality that Kobe has, and the mentality that Hakeem had with me at that Christmas party. You have to be so obsessed with winning that you pull no punches with your teammates, even when you’re in first place. Even when you’re a defending champ.

With Phil (Jackson), 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 (Shaquille O’neal) 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.

This is what athletes mean when they say, “It’s a business.” Hell yes, we make a ton of money to play a silly-a** kid’s game. But even if you’re the hero, even if you hit one of the biggest shots in franchise history and win multiple titles, your a** can be out the door the next day. [...] I actually have five NBA titles thanks to the Lakers. Three from playing with the team, and two from them showing me the door.
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http://www.slamonline.com/nba/rober...uch-hatred-for-that-team/#17QYXotXCombzPd3.97

trodgers · Jun 12, 2015

Wonder what Kasumi would say.

trodgers · Jun 12, 2015

Good read. Sad to hear it if true. Not Bob's reaction - how LA treated him.

wallangong · Jun 12, 2015

trodgers said: ↑

Good read. Sad to hear it if true. Not Bob's reaction - how LA treated him.
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it is sad but i think the FO has done a tremendous job in rehabbing their image these last few years. by all accounts they're trying to demonstrate that this franchise is more about the players. given the constant success back then, i'm sure there was some arrogance in our management. after the last few years i think it brought them down to earth and despite all the flak they've received these last couple of years, i truly think our FO is doing an awesome job now.

gcclaker · Jun 12, 2015

trodgers said: ↑

Good read. Sad to hear it if true. Not Bob's reaction - how LA treated him.
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Agreed. Surprised to hear that they even did this to Horry. Buss and co. always showed class towards players current and ex ones alike.

thkthebest · Jun 12, 2015

Here's the link to the entire article: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/robert-horry-kobe-phil-jackson-lakers/

Some other interesting parts:

Brent Barry was one of the smartest players I ever played with in the NBA. Rudy Tomjanovich was the best coach I ever had, not Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich. Kobe Bryant was the hardest working player I ever played with. The Triangle is just a fancy name for the same plays that 50 percent of the NBA runs. Dennis Rodman was a genius. Basketball is a ruthless business. Winners don’t take no s***.
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About Kobe and being a champion:

I’ll give you another example. When I got traded to the Lakers in ’97, Kobe Bryant was just a rookie. The dude couldn’t shoot threes. We would play this shooting game every day after practice. It was me, Kobe, Brian Shaw, Mitch Richmond and Kurt Rambis. Kobe would lose every time. We would get to practice the next day and sure enough, Kobe would already be there shooting nothing but threes. Like clockwork, at the end of practice he’d say, “Let’s play the game! I’m ready for you.” And we would beat his a** again.

He would never stop. It was incredible. He practiced until one day, a couple months later, he finally won. If you literally said, “Kobe, I bet you can’t make five in a row by dropping the ball and kicking it in from half court,” that mother****** would go out there and practice it until he could do it. And that’s what people don’t understand when they talk about champions — when they talk about a winner’s mentality. Kobe’s dedication to the game is unreal. And I mean that in the truest sense … it was literally unbelievable. The common denominator in every championship team is the mentality that Kobe has, and the mentality that Hakeem had with me at that Christmas party. You have to be so obsessed with winning that you pull no punches with your teammates, even when you’re in first place. Even when you’re a defending champ.

Whenever I hear people crying about Kobe yelling at people in practice, or wondering whether or not LeBron is best friends with his teammates, I just roll my eyes. You know how many off-court conversations I had with the Zen-Master Phil Jackson in my entire time with the Lakers? One. I was sitting in the trainer’s room getting treatment and he was sitting on the table across from me.
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He calls Rudy T the best coach ever:

He understood that even though he was the coach, we could see things that he couldn’t see from the bench. We could hear things and feel things on the court that he couldn’t see. First thing T would say was, “What’s going on out there?” He would ask us the plays we would want to run sometimes and get a feel for what we were comfortable with.

If we ran a play and it worked, T would tell us to run it again. Phil not so much. Same with Pop. They are both great in their own right, but based on personal experience, T was the greatest NBA coach. I know he doesn’t have nearly as many championships, but sometimes we give one person too much credit for titles.
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gcclaker · Jun 12, 2015

^Horry's timing coincides with NBA TV's showing of the "Clutch City" documentary of late... One indelible scene of Horry with the Spurs that stays with me even today was him decking Malone on a lay up attempt during the 2004 Playoff series. It now makes sense how Horry also mentions that he missed the security people, equipment managers and bartenders when asked to reminisce about his Laker days. None about of management or even former teammates.

pound4pound · Jun 12, 2015

after reading that, a part of me kinda thinks Malone getting hurt was karma

The Original 81 · Jun 12, 2015

pound4pound said: ↑

after reading that, a part of me kinda thinks Malone getting hurt was karma
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Sure does seem like that. Sad to hear him say what be said but based on the way things transpired you can't fault him for feeling that way.

The Kobe stories about his work ethic never get old.

abeer3 · Jun 12, 2015

yeah, that's troubling. doesn't seem like the laker way.

otoh, I feel like I remember horry going like, 3-38 from three in the postseason the year before he was released. I wonder whether some of the complacency about which he complained hit close to home.

gcclaker · Jun 12, 2015

abeer3 said: ↑

yeah, that's troubling. doesn't seem like the laker way.

otoh, I feel like I remember horry going like, 3-38 from three in the postseason the year before he was released. I wonder whether some of the complacency about which he complained hit close to home.
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Horry was one heroic three pointer from winning Game 5 against San Antonio. It closely rimmed out...taking the wind out of their sails and they were thoroughly outplayed in Game 6 at home. It ended a possible fourth straight championship. During that series...Duncan abused him from pillar to post.

John3:16 · Jun 12, 2015

Mitch Richmond wasn't on that 97 team.

Otherwise, great article. Love hearing the stories off the court, like his short convo with Phil.

therealdeal · Jun 12, 2015

If I had to guess I'd say he crossed Buss in some way. That's the only time I remember hearing us mistreat a player.

It all worked out though. He's an employee now.

sirronstuff · Jun 13, 2015

He really sucked in his last playoff run with us. If he didn't make Big Shot Rob shots, he wasn't that great of a player. If I remember right, he just was horrible in the playoffs, and it looked like he was done. Turns out he wasn't, but you still hate for stories to float out like that where it appeared management was careless and allowed an opportunity for the franchise name to be smeared over something relatively insignificant. It's not like the Lakers to willingly take that type of hit over such a small amount of money. (To them)

trodgers · Jun 13, 2015

Horry complacent? I thought that was well known. He didn't play a season. He played about 40 games - time to tune up and then the playoffs. In fact, that's how the Lakers were generally after the first ring. Shaq was a major component in that complacency.

LTLakerFan · Jun 13, 2015

therealdeal said: ↑

If I had to guess I'd say he crossed Buss in some way. That's the only time I remember hearing us mistreat a player.

It all worked out though. He's an employee now.
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He threw a towel in his face on the bench..... if I recall correctly.

lakerfan2 · Jun 14, 2015

It's the business.

Although we might not have noticed with Horry, we sure got that sense from LamR and Pau.

Win two rings for the team and then to be sent out on a trade? That hurts. It only compounded when the trade was vetoed and they had to stay. That killed every ounce of motivation they had to want to remain a Laker.

It's hard, but that's how the business of sports entertainment works. It's a business. Loyalty can only get you so far.

John3:16 · Jun 14, 2015

It's kinda interesting how the Lakers are such bad people for letting Horry go and then when they pay Kobe, who was underpaid his entire career, they are stupid and not making good business sense. Well, which is it?

432J · Jun 14, 2015

great read

never thought he was bitter about how things ended in LA but it does make sense now. i'm glad he and the lakers organization have patched things up since then. probably one of the main reasons why the organization "invited him back" by giving him a job

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