NBA great Robert Horry had one of the most unforgettable moments in history when he threw a towel in the face of Phoenix Suns coach Danny Ainge in 1997.
Horry was labeled as the villain in the situation but he recently explained his side during an appearance on The Ringer NBA podcast. The incident stemmed from a moment during Ainge's playing days with the Suns. In 1994, he threw the ball at Horry's teammate, Mario Elie, at the end of the game.
"Mario Elie, my boy," Horry said. "I love Mario Elie. Danny Ainge takes the ball out. They're down. We're about to win the game. He takes it and throws it and hits Mario in the face with the ball. Years later, I get traded and so we're walking in the hallway and they showed us the facilities, Sam Cassell and I. And [Ainge] is like, `You know I hit Mario with the ball on purpose.'"
Horry was eventually traded to the Suns to play for Ainge. Things unraveled during a game against the Chicago Bulls.
"We got beat by 40 in Chicago," Horry said. "I said, `We keep talking about our offense, but we just lost by 40. What about our defense?' And then Danny Ainge is like, `Defense, you're the worst defensive player on the team."'
It reached a boil later against the Boston Celtics.
"So we go to Boston," Horry said. "Then I had hit three plays in a row. And all of a sudden, he subs me for Danny Manning. I said, `Dude, I'm playing good.' He says, `Man, sit your ass on the bench."
The positive for Horry was he was later traded to Los Angeles Lakers. He teamed with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant to win three championships.
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