The 25 Greatest Sixth Men Of All Time
6. Robert Horry, Los Angeles Lakers
5.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 35.2 3P% in 5 seasons as 6th Man
Accolades: 3X NBA Champion (2000-02)
The casual basketball fan remembers Shaquille O’ Neal and Kobe Bryant as the primary contributors to the Lakers’ three-peat run, but people who followed the game closely remember and appreciate the importance of a man known as “Big Shot Rob.”
Despite being a role player for the entirety of his career, Horry was able to retire as one of the winningest players in NBA history with seven titles under his belt. The brunt of this championship pedigree is due to his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Robert Horry already had a championship background as the starting small forward on a Houston Rockets team that won two consecutive titles in 1994 and 1995 when he joined the Lakers in 1997.
Initially filling the starting power forward role, Horry was moved to the sixth man role in the 1998-99 season and continued in that role throughout the team’s three consecutive championship runs.
Horry proved crucial in the role, providing a scoring punch for the Lakers off the bench and becoming the unofficial third option behind Kobe and Shaq.
More importantly, Horry frequently played more minutes in crunch time than the starting forwards and hit a bevy of clutch shots, including a game-winning three pointer in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings.
Despite his big time play in the playoffs throughout the historic three-peat, Horry was eventually let go after the 2002-03 season to make room for the additions of Karl Malone and Gary Payton, taking his clutch talents to the rival San Antonio Spurs and helping them win two more titles.
All bitterness aside, Horry was an essential part of one of the great dynasties of the modern era and will forever be remembered fondly by Laker faithful for stepping up to the plate in the waning moments of crucial games.
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