As a member of the Houston Rockets, Robert Horry played against Michael Jordan at the peak of his powers in the early-to-mid 1990s.
Then, nearly a decade later, the 6-foot-10 forward played with All-Star shooting guard Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers on their way to three consecutive NBA titles from 2000 through 2002.
After watching ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary spotlighting Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, the seven-time NBA champion says the two NBA legends have even more in common than what meets the eye. In a new interview with Rockets broadcaster Craig Ackerman, Horry was asked about his time playing alongside the late Lakers legend.
“He was just a great teammate, a great player, one of the smartest players you could ever play with,” Horry said of Bryant. He continued:
It’s so weird, getting a chance to really watch Michael Jordan in The Last Dance and hear the words that he used, it’s almost like Kobe just took everything he said and did — his mannerisms, his language, his lingo — and just copied it.
It’s like watching a ghost now. I hate to use those terms, but to watch Michael Jordan, it’s like ‘Man, how did Kobe learn everything this dude did to a T?’ And then he made it a little better in some areas.
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Bryant, who was the NBA’s 2008 MVP, averaged 25.0 points (44.7% FG), 5.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 36.1 minutes per game over his 20-year NBA career. In those years, Bryant was an 18-time All-Star, a five-time NBA champion, and a two-time NBA Finals MVP, among his numerous accolades. He’ll be enshrined at the Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.
Bryant passed away earlier this year in a tragic helicopter crash just outside Los Angeles. He was 41 years old.
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Horry also cautioned against comparing statistics of many of today’s greats to those of past generations like Jordan, Bryant, and Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston. (Regarding “The Dream,” Horry said in the interview that he views Olajuwon one of the top five NBA players of all-time.)
As for the difficulties of cross-generation comparisons, Horry said:
It’s funny how, my youngest son, we’ve been having this debate about who’s the greatest player. He’s the biggest LeBron [James] fan.
I said ‘Okay, well, you can have that debate because you never saw Michael play, you never saw Dream play. You only see highlights, and it’s hard to find good highlights.’ He said ‘Dad, they’re moving so slow!’ I said, ‘Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything, buddy.’
Think about it. These guys averaged more points on less shots than these guys average nowadays. Think about it. They’re doing 100 possessions per game, whereas we only did, like, 60. That’s 40 more shots! He doesn’t understand it yet, but I’m trying to get him to learn basketball.
While those per-game numbers are somewhat exaggerated, “Big Shot Bob” is correct in his general premise that the NBA’s average pace has increased significantly over the past 10 years.
For his 16-year career as a whole, Horry won two of his titles playing with Olajuwon and the Rockets; three with Bryant and the Lakers; and two alongside Tim Duncan with the San Antonio Spurs.
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