HoopsHype.com Rumors

Gary Vitti: But I think he's going to come back in great shape, and then it's all about how he's used. You don't want to beat him up in practice. Save it for the game, figure out the appropriate minutes that put him in a successful situation. The example I use is Robert Horry, where we played him a lot of minutes, and it was difficult for him to recover and be productive at his age. But he goes to San Antonio, plays 18 minutes a game, and the guy was an unbelievable force off the bench for them. I think if we figure out how best to use Steve, he can be the same way. NBA.com

Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Steve Nash, Robert Horry, Gary Vitti 

You always say great things about Hakeem Olajuwon, that he would kill it if he had the chance to play nowadays and be the best center by far. What about Dwight Howard? Robert Horry: Dwight would have no chance [against Olajuwon]. Howard is a good player, but his offensive skills are limited. He only has the Georgetown hook, a couple of spins in the baseline... Dwight is a great player, but there are things certain players can and can't do, and Hakeem could do a lot. HoopsHype

Dwight Howard, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Horry 

Forty-five seconds into one of his least favorite All-Star weekend activities, Tim Duncan’s response was interrupted from afar during a mandatory Friday morning session with reporters peppering him with questions both perceptive and inane. “How are you doing, old man,” former Spurs forward Robert Horry shouted across a hotel ballroom overflowing with inquiring minds. “What’s up?” Duncan shouted back to “Big Shot Rob,” the seven-time NBA champion who helped the Spurs win their third and fourth NBA titles in 2005 and 2007 before retiring in 2008, at age 37, after five seasons in silver and black. “Can you still walk?” Horry said, punctuating the question with a cackle. “A little bit,” Duncan said. “Just a little bit, but I’m still younger than you, buddy.” San Antonio Express-News

San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Robert Horry 

Paul Flanner: Robert Horry to Tim Duncan: "What's up old man. You can still walk?" Twitter @Pflanns

San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Robert Horry 

The Shooting Stars competition involves an NBA play, a WNBA player and a retired player shooting from various locations on the court. Team Bosh: Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, Swin Cash Team Lopez: Brook Lopez, Muggsy Bogues, Tamika Catchings Team Harden: James Harden, Sam Cassell, Tina Thompson Team Westbrook: Russell Westbrook, Robert Horry, Maya Moore SI.com

Chris Bosh, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Brook Lopez, Sam Cassell, Muggsy Bogues, Dominique Wilkins, Robert Horry, All Star Game 

Robert Horry laid into former teammate Kobe Bryant while speaking at the ninth Lakers All-Access event at Staples Center. "[When] Kobe is on the weak side, he needs to start paying attention to where the ball is and not be flying around, thinking he's some stealth bomber where he can get steals nonstop," said Horry. The Lakers (17-21) have struggled this season as a team to play defense, and Horry put a sizable share of the blame on Bryant. "That's the only reason you won two games, you solved the problem," continued Horry, speaking of Bryant's move to covering point guards Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks. Los Angeles Times

Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Kobe Bryant, Brandon Jennings, Kyrie Irving, Robert Horry, Staples Center 

"You want a guy to be more focused," Horry said, pointing to LeBron James' no-nonsense demeanor in last season's playoffs. "That's the kind of guy you want, someone who's focused, not fun-loving." At first, Howard bristled and refused to get drawn into a war of words with Horry, but went on to say that he is going to continue to be himself. Orange County Register

Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard, Robert Horry 

Howard wasn't smiling after hearing what Horry said, as related to him by a reporter Wednesday. "I'm going to continue to be me," Howard said. "This made me successful the last nine years. I'm not going to stop smiling. This is what I do for a living and if you have a problem with me smiling, we can go talk about it. "I get paid a lot of money to play basketball. I'm doing something that teachers and doctors and police officers and fireman should be getting a lot for. But I'm getting paid for it so I'm going to have fun. I don't care who has a problem with it. "[Horry] had his time. His time has come and gone, so don't try to tell me how to play. I think it's stupid. I never judged him on how he played. Just because I smile and have fun, that doesn't mean that I don't take this game seriously. I don't want anybody to ever get that twisted. I came here to win championships and I came here to dominate, but I'm going to do it with a smile on my face." Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard, Robert Horry 

Do you have a spare $2.2 million lying around? GREAT ... 'cause 7x NBA champion Robert Horry is unloading his Texas mansion and now it can be all yours ... yeeeeeeehaw!!!! "Big Shot Rob" bought the 8,440-square-foot pad back in 2007 -- the same year he scored his 7th NBA championship -- and now he's finally ready to let it go. TMZ.com

Robert Horry 

Former Lakers forward and seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry will be joining the Lakers broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Horry will participate in select live studio broadcasts throughout the season. He'll appear on "#LakeShow" and "Access SportsNet: Lakers" with Chris McGee, Andy Adler, James Worthy, Dave Miller and Kurt Rambis. Horry won three titles with the Lakers with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. He also earned two rings with the Houston Rockets as well as the San Antonio Spurs. Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Lakers, Media, Robert Horry 

And in his opinion, even with a retooled roster that includes two-time Most Valuable Player Steve Nash and perennial All-Star Dwight Howard in addition to the great Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers won't be able to make a title run this year. "I don't think the Lakers are going to be in the NBA Finals, despite Howard and Nash. To go deep into the play-offs, you need a strong bench, not just a great starting line-up. I still believe (last year's runners-up) Oklahoma City Thunder are the favourites in the Western Conference, and (champions) Miami of course have just gotten stronger with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. You pick up history and you'll see the bench that outplays its opponents usually wins," Horry told Mail Today. The Heat and the Lakers both have rosters that look like fantasy league teams, and Horry believes that it is the general managers, not just the players, who must draw flak for trading their big players away, leading to this polarisation. India Today

Los Angeles Lakers, Robert Horry 

Fisher said he considers Horry - who won titles with the Lakers, Spurs and Rockets - in a "stratosphere all alone." And he says he's not going to rub it in if he's able to win another title and surpass longtime teammate Kobe Bryant, who remains his friend. "To me, it's kind of sacred ground," Fisher said. "I'm not going there. Some people will but not me." Yet he still has something to prove. NBA.com

Oklahoma City Thunder, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry 

What do you think the Lakers should do when Derek Fisher retires from basketball? What's his legacy with the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles? Should they retire his jersey? Kenny Smith: I mean, they have too many great players that have come to Los Angeles to think about before retiring his jersey... I think about Robert Horry, what he did for the franchise... So many great players. Getting his jersey retired will be difficult, but he is definitely a Laker legend. HoopsHype

Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, Kenny Smith, Robert Horry 

During his visit to Russia to attend the student league All-Star game, 7-time NBA champion Robert Horry was interviewed by Sports.ru. Here’s the most interesting part I think (Please keep in mind that this is English-to-Russian-to-English translation) Was it possible to avoid the Kobe and Shaq split? I think Phil Jackson started that feud. It happened many times that after team practice he would say, “Kobe said this about Shaq, and Shaq said that about Kobe… We couldn’t believe how could that happen, because just the day before we saw them together, jumping on one another. Phil liked it when there was conflict of some sort. I always tell people; if you look at those championships, you’ll see who were the closest players on the team. Normally those are the guys who are the first to hug each other. And when we were winning, it was always Shaq and Kobe who hugged. I think this will answer your question. Later it was blown out of proportion by the media and both players started doing something that didn’t make sense. Rush'n Hoops

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry 

Who is the best player that you ever played with? I would say Hakeem Olajuwon and Kobe Bryant. The things The Dream could do on the floor were phenomenal for a big man. And the dedication that I saw in Kobe, I didn’t see in anywhere else. And I think that he’s not given enough credit for this: he has spent a lot of time and energy to become what he is now. I don’t want to offend anybody, but those two stay above everybody else. Rush'n Hoops

Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Horry 

Not willing to let Scottie Pippen off the hook so easily, I reached for the next best thing: Could he kindly clarify his position on the controversial statement he made (and subsequently, amended on Twitter) about LeBron James potentially surpassing Michael Jordan as the greatest player the game has ever seen? “My position is still the same,” Pippen stated. “You’re talking about a very young kid who came to the game at a very young age. Statistically, he will probably be the best player at the end of the day…based on the number of years he can get in, [he’s a] super athlete, very versatile in a lot of ways.” Pippen added, “My comment was not meant to belittle the greatest player in the game—he has truly made his mark with his style, with his charisma, with his brand—but from a statistical standpoint, I think [LeBron] has great [potential] to be recognized as the best.” My Sharoni

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Robert Horry 

As for Robert Horry, when asked what he thought about LeBron’s notorious proclamation that he’ll amass more than 7 championship titles, Horry squinted at me and exclaimed, “Who?!” My Sharoni

LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Robert Horry 

Bryant, who is reportedly considering signing with Italian powerhouse Virtus Bologna, may thrive, but the other players who are daring to head over are in for a shock. According to former NBA great Scottie Pippen and legendary clutch shooter Robert Horry, the stars of the 1990s would never have even dreamed of playing foreign basketball, and Pippen went as far as saying that the international hoops stage was beneath His Airness. "No. I could never see him going over," Pippen told the Daily News at the "NBA 2K12" video game release party in Manhattan. "Because of the status of the NBA at that time it was never any doubt that the NBA stage was the best stage, at that time." "I don't think any of those guys would have gone there," added Horry. "Overseas basketball wasn't as nice as it is now." New York Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Italy, Robert Horry, Virtus Bologna 

The only player who will thrive in Europe? Bryant. "He speaks Italian," said Horry, who played with Bryant from 1996-2003. "I won't say he was born there, but he spent a lot of years there. That's almost like a second home. Of all the players you talk about, he'll be the one who's OK." Bryant's only struggle in Italy? He won't be able to curse at referees in Italian. But Horry doesn't think that will be a problem, either. "With him," Horry said, "he can curse in English, too." New York Daily News

Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, Italy, Robert Horry, Virtus Bologna 

Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, who experienced the previous NBA lockout in 1998, said he is not concerned about the players during the current stalemate as it is easy for them to stay in shape through professional guidance and exercise. He made the comment during his NBA Cares trip to Beijing on Thursday. "Now it is actually easier for them (the players), because they do clinical stuff by themselves. I think they will be fine. The guys are professional now. There are so many things out there. They have got nutritional advice, they know what to eat, and they have a lot of facilities to work out in," he said. "One thing is to make sure you don't get hurt. Just play and stay in shape. Do things that keep you in shape. It could be a long lockout, so I hope they can stay healthy." China Daily

Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, NBPA, Robert Horry