Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s three-peat wouldn’t be possible if $20 million man didn’t ‘throw a towel’
Former Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant teammate made his way to the Lakers’ dynasty after he threw a towel at his coach Danny Ainge’s face.
Robert Horry is arguably the most crucial if not the biggest ever role player in NBA history, who helped three different franchises win multiple championships. He has some of the most clutch shots in league history which resulted in his teams winning championships.
Popular by “Big Shot Bob,” Robert played a considerable role in the legends like Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Tim Duncan winning at least two of their multiple rings.
In his 16-year NBA career where he averaged just 7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists playing mostly off the bench, the man was always in the right spot at right time to nail several Playoff-series and title-winning shots.
But his three championships with Kobe and Shaq certainly never would never have happened had he not thrown a towel at the face of his Suns’ head coach face in the middle of a game.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant might have missed out on a championship or two if Big Shot Bob didn’t throw a towel at Danny Ainge’s face
On his Big Shot Bob Podcast, Robert discussed how infuriated he was when he went from helping “The Dream” and Houston Rockets win their two straight championships in 95’ and 96’ to a good-for-nothing Phoenix Suns team which traded its only great player Charles Barkley in exchange for him. And also his hatred for the Head Coach.
“I hated Danny Ainge, I’m not even gonna lie. I hated him,” Horry said. “Mario Elie is one of my good friends, and in one of the playoff games, he took the ball out — Danny Ange was a pitcher — he hit Mario in the face with the ball on purpose.”
As the 10-21 Suns travelled to Boston to play the Celtics, with just over 7 minutes left in regulation and the Cs up 89-84, Ainge pulled Horry out after the forward tried draining a wild three-point shot that was nowhere close to going in.
Frustrated, Horry confronted his coach with expletives, while a few teammates tried to pull him away. After Ainge and Horry went back and forth for a bit, the angry 6’11 forward took off the towel around his neck and threw it at his coach. He received a two-game suspension, apologized to his team afterwards, and never played another game for the Suns.
Remember when Robert Horry threw a towel in Danny Ainge’s face and the next thing you knew he was a Laker lmao pic.twitter.com/NenPFq4IX0
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) March 29, 2021
That in turn came as a blessing for him because he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he’d play an important role in forming a dynasty. So, we can conclude Shaq and Kobe might have had a ring or two less if that whole scene in Boston never happened.
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