Few remember that Robert Horry was one of the most exciting college basketball players to watch when he played at the University of Alabama. He was a four-year starter who was a two-time All-SEC star. Because of his efforts, he was selected 11th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft.
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Horry was known as an outstanding defender in college. In his senior season, he averaged 3.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. By the end of the year, he made the All-SEC defense team. However, there was one time on that end of the floor when he got completely embarrassed during his college career.
It was none other than Shaquille O’Neal who got the best of Horry. The LSU star big man dunked all over him once when the two matched up in college. And when Big Shot Bob saw an image of the event recently resurface online, he couldn’t help but jokingly threaten the big Diesel.
“I’m about to put my hands on you,” Horry joked on the Big Shot Bob Podcast.
The former forward then explained how the image was captioned as a battle between the two foes. But he wanted to clear that up. “It ain’t like a battle. Shaq dunks all over Robert Horry!” Horry said while laughing.
It’s something that Shaq did to many college stars while on his way to the NBA. In 1990/91, he was the college player of the year. He dominated the era because of his size, which carried over into the NBA as well.
In fact, the massive size difference was why Horry always tried to get out of the way whenever Shaq was coming at him. “I think I weighed like 215. I had to get the f**k out the way,” he said.
It’s not a bad weight for a college player. But Shaq still had over 100 pounds on him. That’s right, even in college, O’Neal weighed well over 300 pounds. It’s no wonder he went number 1 overall in 1992, as scouts then marvelled at his size.
Shaq and Horry shared a close bond
The funny thing is that the once college rivals would eventually become teammates together on the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only that, but Horry would help Shaq and Kobe Bryant three-peat as champions in 1999-2002. That’s why the two hold a great deal of love and respect for each other. Shaq even once endorsed Horry’s case as a Hall of Famer.
The answer is HMF YES, and yes I’m yelling pic.twitter.com/ValhsJiYV1
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) October 23, 2023
Shaq respects Horry a lot, and the co-sign to see him immortalised in the Hall of Fame just proves that. His 7 titles are the 4th most by a single player in NBA history, and he didn’t ride the bench to them either. He’s called Big Shot Bob for a reason.
Horry is still not in the Hall of Fame because he never compiled career stats similar to those of the others inducted. But he was one of the most important role players of all time for several teams.
Without Horry, Shaq would not be remembered in the same way. He might not have 4 championships to his name. That’s why it’s great to see that the two still share a great relationship to this day. Now, they only laugh at Shaq posterizing him when the two were younger.
