Latest news with #Horry
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robert Horry Gives Knicks Advice on How To Complete 3-1 Comeback
The New York Knicks are on the brink of elimination, but if they want to climb back from down 3-1 against the Indiana Pacers ... they gotta stop what they're doing and listen to Robert Horry!! TMZ Sports caught up with Big Shot Bob at LAX on Thursday -- hours before Game 5 tips off at Madison Square Garden -- and picked his brain on what the home team will have to do in order to stay alive. Getty Of course, Horry knows what it takes -- he was part of the 1995 Houston Rockets team that clawed back and defeated the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals and eventually won the Finals over the Orlando Magic. Advertisement So ... what do Jalen Brunson and Co. have to do?? Stop caring so much!! "I think when you watch the Knicks play, they play stressed," the seven-time champion said. "When you play stressed, you can't win." Getty Horry said his Rockets were able to pull off their comeback by saying "F it" and having fun ... and the same approach could work for the Knicks. Horry praised New York's squad ... but said the team can't rely on Brunson alone in getting a dub and living to see another day. "They just gotta play team ball, man. Not just say, 'hey, one guy carry us to the Promised Land.'"
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robert Horry finally explains the moment that ended his Suns stint
There are a few moments in Phoenix Suns history that stand apart from the rest. Moments etched in memory, some beloved, some bizarre, and others so surreal you have to double-check they actually happened. Sure, there are iconic highlights like the Valley-Oop. But if you really dig into the Suns' archives, you'll uncover a treasure trove of wild and often forgotten chapters. Moments that drift between folklore and fever dream. One of those? January 5, 1997. Robert Horry. Towel. Danny Ainge's face. Ah yes, Robert Horry. Advertisement I've sports hated that man for a long, long time. He was part of those soul-crushing Houston Rockets teams that ripped my adolescent heart out. Twice. That era included Mario Elie's infamous 'Kiss of Death,' which prompted me, in true teenage fashion, to hurl a remote control into the concrete floor of my living room. Maybe that's part of what made Horry so infuriating. He always found a way into your nightmares. But that towel toss? That was personal. Recently, Horry joined Wosny Lambre on In My Feelings with Big Wos, a Ringer podcast, and for the first time in a long time, opened up about the infamous moment that forever tied his name to Phoenix lore, not for the rings, not for the Rockets, but for that one unfiltered act of rebellion. A towel, a coach, and a moment that would become part of Suns history, whether we like it or not. Advertisement 'Mario Ellie, my boy. Danny Ainge takes the ball out. They're down. We about to win the game. He takes it and throws it and hits Mario right in the face with the ball,' Horry begins to explain, referring to when he was playing against the Suns as a member of the Houston Rockets, and Danny Ainge played for the Suns. 'You know, a couple years later, I get traded,' Horry continued. Robert Horry arrived in Phoenix in 1996, part of the package — alongside Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant, and Sam Cassell — that the Suns received in exchange for Charles Barkley. It marked a changing of the guard in more ways than one. Just months earlier, Danny Ainge had hung up his sneakers after a 14-year playing career and returned to the Suns not as a scorer, but as an assistant coach, stepping into a new chapter as the franchise reshaped its identity. Advertisement 'And so, we walking in the hallway and they're showing us the facilities, Sam Cassell and I. And he [Danny Ainge] was like, 'I hit Mario on the face on purpose with the ball.' And so now all this animosity is starting to build up.' 'We got beat by like 40 by Chicago. And we were like, 'Well, our offense...', I say, 'You know what? Can I say something? We keep talking about our offense, man. We got beat by 40. What about our defense?' And then Danny's like, 'You're the worst defensive player on the team.' I'm like, 'Whoa, dude.'' 'And then we traded away Michael Finley, who's my boy,' Horry explained. 'We trade away AC Green, and my dog Sam Cassell got traded. [Ainge] said, 'Well, we traded away those people to give you more time.'' 'So we go to Boston. I had I had three great plays in a row, and all of a sudden he sits me for Danny Manning. I said, 'Dude, I'm playing good.' He said, 'Man, go sit your ass down at the end of the bench.'' Advertisement Ah, here comes the fireworks. 'What did this mother say? I got up and I said, 'What did you fucking say to me?'And he said, 'I said, go said, man.' And I threw the towel in his face and walked down early in the bin. We went back to Phoenix. They suspended me for two games.' 'After that,' Horry finished, 'Danny called me on the phone and said, 'I hate to say this, I just probably won you some more championships.' I'm like, 'What do you mean by that?' 'We just traded you to the Lakers.' And I was like, 'Yes.' I hung up the phone. I didn't even know. I didn't ask who I was traded with, who I was traded for. I got in my car and drove to LA the next day.' Indeed. The Suns shipped Robert Horry off to the Lakers in exchange for Cedric Ceballos and Rumeal Robinson, a short-lived chapter in Phoenix that ended with a towel toss and a soured relationship. Advertisement Meanwhile, Horry's story was just getting started. Already a two-time champion with the Rockets, he'd go on to win five more rings: three with the Lakers during their early-2000s dynasty (1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02) and two more with the Spurs in 2004–05 and 2006–07. Both of those Spurs teams, of course, ended the Suns' season en route to lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy. So, five of Horry's seven titles came at the Suns' expense. That's not just a footnote. It's a full-on vendetta from a Phoenix fan's perspective. I've always sports hated Robert Horry for that very reason. He was the shadow looming over some of the most promising Suns teams, twice as a Rocket during the Jordan-less void when Phoenix looked ready to ascend, and later as a key figure on the teams that broke our hearts in the mid-2000s. And after that infamous towel toss at Danny Ainge, who had morphed from feisty floor general to assistant coach, Horry was practically declared public enemy number one in the Valley. But if I'm being honest, I get it. I see his point of view. He was a champion with standards. He saw dysfunction, and he acted out. Petulant? Maybe. But perhaps he knew what winning was supposed to look like. And Phoenix, in that moment, didn't. Listen to the latest podcast episode of the Suns JAM Session Podcast below. Stay up to date on every episode, subscribe to the pod on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, YouTube Podcasts, Amazon Music, Podbean, Castbox. Please subscribe, rate, and review. Advertisement More from
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA Legend Had Words After Heated Danny Ainge Moment
Danny Ainge has a reputation in the NBA as a player and an executive. He helped the Boston Celtics win titles in 1984 and 1986, then helped the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns make the NBA Finals in 1992 and 1993, respectively. When he took over the Celtics as President of Basketball Operations, he assembled the "Big 3" of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, leading to a title in 2008. He then drafted Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, which led to the Celtics' title in 2024. Advertisement What's not talked about is Ainge's short-lived coaching career. After his playing days ended, Ainge was a coach on the Phoenix Suns from 1996 to 1999. When he was an assistant, there was an infamous incident where Robert Horry threw a towel at Ainge on the bench. Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge© Rob Gray-Imagn Images Horry, who won seven titles throughout his NBA career, explained what led up to him throwing the towel at Ainge on The Ringer NBA Show. Horry said it started with Ainge's actions during the 1994 playoff series between the Suns and Houston Rockets. "Danny Ainge takes the ball out," Horry began. "They're down. We about to win the game. He takes it and throws and hits Mario (Elie) right in the face with the ball. A couple of years later, I get traded, and so we're talking in their hallway, showing us the facilities... and he's like, 'You know I hit Mario in the face on purpose with the ball.'" Advertisement From there, the strain only got worse between Ainge and Horry. The seven-time champion revealed other arguments that only escalated their issues with each other. "Now, all this animosity is starting to build up," he continued. "We got beat by 40 by Chicago, and we were like, 'Well our offense...' And I was said, '...We keep talking about our offense, man. We got beat by 40. What about our defense?' And then Danny Ainge is like, 'Defense? You the worst defensive player on the team.'" Horry added that after the Suns traded away multiple players, things came to a head during a game against the Celtics: Advertisement "So we go to Boston. I had three great plays in a row, and all of a sudden, he subs me for Danny Manning. I said, 'Dude, I'm playing good.' He said, 'Man, sit your [expletive] down at the end of the bench.'... I got up, and I said, 'What did you (expletive) say to me?... 'And he said, 'I said go sit-' And I threw the towel in his face and walked down to the end of the bench." Horry never played another game as a Sun, as he was suspended and then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in January 1997, where he went on to win three more of his seven titles. Related: Calls Mount for Danny Ainge's Firing After Cooper Flagg News Related: Former Lakers Player Sends Controversial Message After Jayson Tatum Injury
