Welcome to Chapter 845 of the NBA's Who Is The G.O.A.T. debate. In this edition, we'll narrow our focus onto Chicago Bulls icon and six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant, a five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers… two of the usual suspects in this hyper-charged debate.
Now remember, as is always the case, we'd be foolish to expect that anyone's opinion will be changed here, no matter how compelling the evidence presented is, and in this case, it's admittedly not very sound. But you can blame Robert Horry for that.
Robert Horry, a 16-year NBA veteran who retired back in 2008, recently appeared on the Dan Patrick Show and offered his thoughts on the Kobe Bryant-Michael Jordan debate because why wouldn't that be the conversation we're having as the NBA Finals were about to tip off?
Anyway, as you'd expect, Horry's selection was rooted not in anecdotes or numbers or accolades. Instead it was a choice made by the fact that Horry won three NBA titles as a teammate of Kobe Bryant's on the Los Angeles Lakers.
As you surely know, this exercise has no concrete conclusion that everyone can get behind. Supporters of Kobe Bryant can tout his longevity and his slight edge in counting stats, while MJ stans will note Jordan's superior per-game averages and his pristine 6-0 Finals record, which is tidier than Kobe's 5-2 record in the NBA Finals.
But as Robert Horry notes near the end of the exchange with Dan Patrick, his seven championship rings — and his perfect 7-0 Finals record — gives Big Shot Rob the leg up over both MJ and Kobe.
The seven championships of Robert Horry
It's my sincere hope that nobody will mistake Robert Horry's seven championships as a qualifier into this larger discussion we're having. Titles should not be the be-all and end-all of the G.O.A.T. debate. With that said, it is hard to dispute Robert Horry's impact as a role player on seven different championship-winning teams.
Robert Horry indisputably made every team he played on better, and he has the hardware and career highlights to back that up. Horry was selected 11th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 1993 NBA Draft, and by the end of his third year in the league, he had already been a starter on two championship-winning teams.
Horry's contributions for the Rockets and his knack for hitting timely jumpers late in games, earned him his “Big Shot Rob” moniker well before he won his next five titles.
Eventually, Robert Horry found his way to LA, hitting what was arguably his most famous game-winner during the 2002 Western Conference Finals, a Game 4 Lakers win over the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers went on to defeat the Kings in seven and win their third-straight NBA title in a sweep of the New Jersey Nets.
Horry's final two titles came with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and 2007, and his biggest shot, even more monumental than his Western Conference Finals dagger in 2002, came during Game 5 of the 2005 NBA Finals. With Game 5 and the series lead hanging in the balance, it was Horry who knocked down the game-winning triple in typical “Big Shot Rob” fashion.
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