Today in 1992: Rockets draft Robert Horry over Harold Miner - Rockets Wire

When the Houston Rockets selected Robert Horry over Harold Miner with the No. 11 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, the decision was initially met with loud boos at the team’s draft party for fans at The Summit.

Those boos from June 24, 1992 didn’t age well.

Nicknamed “Baby Jordan,” Miner was an athletic specimen. In his third and final college season at USC in 1991-92, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard was a consensus first-team All-American and the Pac-10 Player of the Year. Miner averaged 26.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game that season.

By comparison, Horry’s college production was more modest. As a senior at Alabama, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 15.8 points (47.0% FG, 35.0% on 3-pointers), 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game.

When Houston’s pick arrived and both were available, nearly everyone expected Rockets GM Steve Patterson to select Miner. The list of shocked faces even included Horry himself, who said at the time:

I looked at the board, and there was all this big-name talent there. Bryant Stith. Tracy Murray. And then there’s Harold Miner. I see Harold Miner there, and I say, ‘There isn’t any way I’m going to Houston. They’ve got to take Miner. He’s a big-time player and a big-time scorer.’

But Patterson was comfortable with Houston’s young backcourt of Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell, and he also cited concern with Miner’s lack of shooting range. Instead, the Rockets bolstered their frontcourt with Horry, who knew immediately the pressure he would face. He said:

Nobody knows that better than me. I’m sure there are a lot of people back there in Houston who are going to wait on me to come in and prove the Rockets didn’t make the wrong pick. That’s a pressure I’m going to have to live with at the start.

I’m sure everybody who follows basketball just a little bit knows about Harold Miner and not a whole lot of them know very much about me.

Miner was then drafted by the Miami Heat at the very next slot.

As it turned out, Horry proved that Patterson and the Rockets made the right choice. Horry started 79 games in his rookie NBA season of 1992-93, in which the Rockets improved from 42-40 (and missing the playoffs) in the prior season to 55-27 and tied for the West’s second-best record.

Then, in his second and third seasons of 1993-94 and 1994-95, Horry started for the first two championship teams in franchise history. In an era defined by the group’s “Clutch City” moniker, Horry became known as “Big Shot Bob” for his propensity of hitting timely shots under pressure.

Overall, in four seasons with the Rockets from 1992-93 through 1995-96, Horry averaged 10.5 points (44.7% FG), 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 31.9 minutes per game. He also provided sufficient versatility to play and defend at both small forward and power forward.

Horry was traded to Phoenix in August 1996 as part of the blockbuster trade that brought future Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to Houston. Years later, he went on to win five more NBA titles — three with the Los Angeles Lakers, and two with the San Antonio Spurs. His career total of seven championships is the most of any NBA player in more than 40 years.

Horry was never a star, but he was a quintessential role player for championship teams. By Value over Replacement Player (VORP), Horry finished third among the 1992 draft class in career value ⁠— trailing only Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, who were drafted No. 1 and No. 2 overall, respectively.

Meanwhile, Miner was out of the NBA after just four years. Though it was controversial at the time, the Rockets clearly made the right call.