Okay, they didn't "discover" him this year, but they sure did sound like it some times. Which is pretty odd for a guy who just won his sixth championship ring. But I've been watching Horry since his rookie year in Houston and I thought it was sad that despite garnering so much attention this year, folks pretty much missed the boat on identifying why he is so special.

After an amazing game in the finals where he essentially saved San Antonio's bacon with big shot after big shot, Robert Horry suddenly became known as "Big Shot Rob." I'm not sure exactly where this name started, but it sure did catch on quick after that game.

Ironically, a day or so before the game that made him famous, I had read an Internet article explaining why Horry was the biggest fraud in the playoffs. The article argued that he really wasn't all that proficient of a shooter and had missed the clutch shot pretty much as often as he had hit it.

Sadly, the author of that article missed the point about Horry as well. The question all of these reporters should have asked and the columnist and talking heads should have tried to answer is: How has Robert Horry managed to hang around all of these championship contenders for so many years?

It's not like Horry was the first roll player to hit the big shot in the Finals. As famous as Jordan was for his game winning shots, a good number of his championships were sealed with shots by guys with names like Paxton. So, to phrase my question another way: Why wasn't Robert Horry a one hit, one season playoff wonder?

If you listened just to the media's talking heads, you would probably say the answer is that Horry earned the reputation as a clutch shooter who gets it done in the playoffs and thus earned a spot on contending teams who could get him a chance to win the big game with a big shot. Okay, I admit, that is partly true. "Big Shot" Rob certainly earned a solid reputation as a shooter on the Rockets two championship teams. But, so did Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, Mario Elie and even Matt Bullard.

I believe the reason Robert Horry has been so successful is that his greatest contribution to a team is not his shooting. If all he could do is shoot, his name would be Steve Kerr (side note: Kerr is one of the new NBA talking heads and can I point out that he's a lot better shooter than NBA analyst?).

Robert Horry earns his way on championship contenders and earns his way onto the court at clutch time because not only can he shoot in the clutch, but he can play DEFENSE. Horry is an excellent defender. He is tall and lanky. He has quick hands that cause steals and creates chaos for the opposition. He has a pretty big body, so he can play defense against many of the power forwards that dominate the league today.

AND, he can hit the big shot.

If all he could do was shoot, he would never earn the court time needed to be in position to hit that many big shots. Robert Horry is a great defender who happens to also be a clutch (but not necessarily efficient) shooter. The common thread of all six of Robert Horry's championship teams is defense. The Rockets played great defense and he was one of their best defenders. The Lakers played solid defense and he was their only good defender in the paint not named Shaq. The Spurs play excellent defense and Horry is a key cog in their defensive rotation.

So, don't let the "Big Shot" nickname fool you. Robert Horry's career highlight reel will feature all of the big shots and championship celebrations. But Robert Horry's legacy will be his ability to earn a spot on the floor in clutch games with solid and consistent defense.