He wasnt on rookie contract forever. When he signed a new contract, no one paid him ridiculous amount. They knew he was a lazy player but he could produce in playoffs. There were no wild expectations. Not by GMs/owners atleast. In regards to Ainge's case. it that were true, Lakers and Spurs wouldnt have welcomed him with open arms....As for Ainge's stint in Phoenix... Ainge was commonly known as an @sshole around the league. It isnt. It was Riley's fault. Here was a case of unreal expectations from a coach/GM based on contract. There is no such parraleleism in Horry's case which you tried to draw out. Define 'everybody'. At the time even Houston fans were divided as to what Horry's potential was. The GMs and owners obviously saw it quiet clearly and never paid him $75-80 million contract. Again, those were yours and a few fans expectations. Not the professional expectation. If you are talking about regular season he did not meet his expectation AFTER draft. If you are talking about regular season expectation after his first two seasons in NBA, he met them. Most people who had followed him expected to do crap in regular season and sure enough he didnt dissapoint. If you are talking about PLAYOFFS post draft. He met/exceeded his expectaions. He was a high draft lottery pick and was brought in with semistar/role player expectation. In playoffs he more than met it for a rookie contract. If you are talking about PLAYOFFS post first 2 seasons as a Rocket, again he met it based on his salary. Again, YOUR and undecided number of Rocket fans expectations. Based on what he made during his career he was never considered "overpaid." I didnt bring him up. You did. Again, wrong parralelism. In Horry's case its average fan's expectations. Even then, in Horry's case it was some Houston fans who thought he would be this and that. Outside of Rockets he has always been a considered a lazy player who turns it up in playoffs. In Juwan Howard's case, it was the blunder of GM. But he didnt. He raised up his game when it counts most. Bottom line again, Horry raised his game when it counted most. If there were championships given out in regular season I would have had beef with him. he was lazy, no doubt. but he more than made up for it when it counted most.
Once again... this point has never been denied by me, or "other" Rocket fans (or whoever else you're referring to). Horry is money in the post-season. That shouldn't absolve him from being "lazy" or whatever it is in the regular season. Hell, WHY is he lazy during the regular season? Why does it have to be either/or? The fact that he's lazy in the regular season IS a big deal... if he wasn't on a team that could handle it. Throughout his Lakers stint, he was making more than what the mid-level exception is worth today (IOW - a larger than average annual contract). But, that team had enough role player weapons... whether it be George, Fox, Fisher, or Harper that weren't dogging it. I'll give him credit for refusing to sign with any team that didn't have clear championship aspirations (including the Rockets 2 years ago). But, to me... Horry is no more of a "winner" than Sam, Mario, Kenny, Steve Kerr, Paxon, Vinny Johnson, etc. (any valuable role players who found their niche on championship teams), even if he has more rings. He's a helluva lot more fortunate to be on the teams he's been with... and once again, he's a smart man for that. But he still doesn't deserve complete isolation from criticism (which is what originally spurred this argument), and mere god-like status for simply having rings.
It shouldnt and it doesnt absolve him from being lazy in the regular season. I have repeatedly called him lazy. He understood though when to turn it up and he actually did. That is why I called him smart. Devious and smart. But he never was. Again the smart part kicks in. We can play a lot of ''IFs" for a lot of players..... The fact is that he understood his personality and he went to teams which could live with his personality. If this was a problem then Lakers and Spurs would say something. But to my recollection, they never did. Again, he was drafted by Rockets. He was not signed as a free agent. Unless you are thinking about defecting Stevie Franchise style. As for other teams, he was free to chose anyone. But he chose to go to teams which could use him in playoffs and had good chance to win. I will take a player who actually cares about winning rings on my team anyday... I never said he was more of a "winner" than those players. What I can say for a fact is that he has more rings than any o those players, and he didnt just ride the bench and get them. He had a big role in playoffs for all those rings. He was fortunate to be on those teams just as well as the teams were fortunate to have him to perform his role in playoffs. Both parties were happy. He did what they thought he would do and the teams never complained about it. Again, I dont recall PJ or Hill ever saying something bad about him. Of course he doesnt deserve isolation from criticism. I said he was lazy. That is a criticism. What spurred the argument was when you insisted that he SHOULD perform well in regular season and was FORTUNATE to have been on those teams. All i said was that I would rather have a player who turns it on playoffs than someone who doesnt. Who is giving him a god-like status? This is what he is.... Clutch performer in playoffs (even then as a role player) Turns it on when it counts the most... While I already said that he was.... Lazy, and smart in chosing his locations.
