Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Robert Horry is not one to shy away from speaking his mind. Horry, for better or worse, has always expressed his opinion matter how it would be perceived by Lakers fans. Horry’s latest comments are bound to rub many of the purple and gold faithful the wrong way.
Recently, Horry was asked who was the best big man he’d ever played with considering he was teammates with Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Hakeem Olajuwon during his NBA career. Although this would be a difficult question for some, Horry didn’t hesitate to put Olajuwon over both Duncan and O’Neal in an interview with Jesus Perez Ramos of Mundo Deportivo (translated via Google translate).
‘The Dream’ (Olajuwon) was the best. He had everything they had the other two, but more. For example, The Dream could do everything he did ‘ Shaq ‘ but also got free throws. And the truth is that the other two learned from Olajuwon, who was the best center and the best power forward history. What defines these bigs is not what they could do but what they could not do. And The Dream could do everything.
Although Horry gave Hakeem the nod over Shaq, the former Laker did praise Kobe Bryant in his interview with Ramos (translation via Google translate). Horry sticks by his stance that Bryant is the most competitive player he’s ever seen.
Of those who have competed team with me, no doubt Kobe Bryant.
It seems that the majority of players that have played alongside Kobe have said the same things over the years about his competitive drive, but few, if any, have given another center higher praise over Shaq.
Of course, not many players in the history of the league have been on as many championship teams (seven) with legendary players like Horry.
[H/T to Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk]