Dirk Nowitzki Needs His "Robert Horry"

Many people don't realize it, but Robert Horry is one of the most unique and valuable players in NBA history. I don't believe people understand what makes Horry so valuable and why he has been so "lucky" his whole career.

Most people would probably point to Horry's clutch shooting and solid defense and call him a role player. But I believe there is something about Horry that not only makes him successful, but also makes the stars he has played with successful.

Horry won two rings in Houston with Hakeem Olajuwan, three rings in Los Angeles with Shaq, and two rings in San Antonio with Tim Duncan.

So what makes Horry different, and what makes him the perfect complementary player to dominant big men?

It's his ability to shoot the three-point shot at the power forward position, which spreads the floor, allowing his centers to operate with the lane cleared.

Having a power forward that can stretch the floor in this way is invaluable. The only way to match it is to have your own dominant low-post player and your own Horry.

But there's only one "Big-Shot Bob". This gives Horry's teams an advantage that can't be matched.

Horry pulls a big out of the paint, allowing his team's post player unfettered access to the rim, as the opposing power forward is forced to move to the three-point line. It's either that, or Horry is wide open to shoot threes. And he loves game-winning threes.

Would those aforementioned big men be considered so great without Horry?

The simple answer is "no." Post players like Hakeem, Shaq and Duncan could never have been near as dominant as they were if they hadn't had Horry.

And what about Robert; would he appear as great without those big men?

I don't think he'd even be close.

What we have with Horry and these pivots is a symbiotic relationship.  They both need each other to be their best.  

I would contend that Horry was far more valuable to Shaq as a role player than Kobe was as a co-star. Horry's unique skills at the power forward position are more rare than Kobe's as a scorer.  

Dirk takes Horry's unique game and takes it to a superstar level. To put it in an analogy: Dirk is to Horry as Shaq is to your average post playing center, or Dirk is to Horry as Jordan is to your average shooting guard.

It's as if you took Horry's skills and made a franchise player out of him. 

So who would optimize Dirk's skills the way Horry did Shaq's?

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