Do a search for "'Tim Duncan' + robot" and you get 55,300 hits. Search for "'Tim Duncan' + boring" and you'll get 55,300. But underneath his ruthlessly efficient exterior, Tim Duncan has a good sense of humor. No, really. Now that the Spurs have lost in the playoffs, here's a story about him from last year's NBA Finals.
In game 5 of the Finals, Robert Horry hit a game-winning three-pointer to beat the Pistons in overtime. In a postgame interview, Duncan acknowledged his own struggles at the foul line in the waning seconds, Duncan repeatedly credited his teammate "Bob Horry". "That's just Bob Horry" he said, about Horry's regular postseason shooting heroics. Duncan teased Horry a few times, talking about how Horry lazed his way through the regular season before bringing his A game to the playoffs. But the key was the name. "Big Shot Bob". "It's great we had a veteran like Bob Horry who's been here before."
The thing is, Robert Horry hates to be called Bob. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of telling this to the media, which is how Duncan found out about it. Since then, Duncan wastes no opportunity to promote the "Big Shot Bob" nickname, even though Horry would desperately prefer to be known as "Big Shot Rob".
Horry seems very good-natured, though he's also a prideful guy. And not without reason. He's won six championships, and never lost before the second round of the playoffs. In 2002, Horry beat the Kings with a three-pointer at the buzzer, after a wild rebound bounced right into his hands. When the reporter suggested that, given the fortuitous bounce, the shot was somewhat lucky, Horry would have none of it. "Perfect form", he repeated. "I have perfect form on my jumper."
In other words, Horry is the perfect guy to rankle with this. Duncan is single-handedly ruining Horry's prized nickname. Do a search for "big shot bob" and you get 17,000 hits. Searching for "big shot rob" only yields about 300 more results. Bill Simmons even calls him "Big Shot Brob". In conclusion, if Tim Duncan is a robot, he's a funny robot.
