Slamming Lou Williams for His ‘Unreal’ Expectations, Ex-Lakers Star Makes a Compelling Argument Against Renaming Trophies

There’s never a boring discussion within the NBA. This time, players and fans alike are talking about renaming honors after the players. The league has a history of dedicating awards after icons who put the NBA on the map. Now Lou Williams has spoken about renaming an honor he shares with other outstanding athletes. However, this tradition does not go down well with a Los Angeles Lakers star.

There’s an opinion that the Sixth Man of the Year award should be renamed after Lou Williams. He, however, shares the record for most Sixth Man honors with Jamal Crawford. Robert Horry, widely regarded as one of the best sixth men in NBA history, contradicted them.

Robert Horry on renaming Sixth Man honor

An NBA team’s sixth man is a double-edged position. Their contributions are underrated, but they’re first on the frontline of criticism. Robert Horry never won Sixth Man of the Year award. However, opinion is consistent that he’s one of the best sixth men in the league. He’s won seven championships with three different teams and is arguably the most versatile teammate.

READ MORE: Amidst Stephen Curry – Magic Johnson Comparisons, 7-Time NBA Champion Throws Unexpected “Bad Boy” Into the Conversation

Currently, there’s a call to rename the Sixth Man of the Year after Lou Williams, who has won the honor in 2015, 2018, and 2019. He’s, however, claimed the renaming honor should go to Jamal Crawford, who has won it twice.

Robert Horry dove into this discussion on his podcast, Big Shot Rob. To summarize, he thinks renaming awards based on who has won it multiple times is not a great system.

The hosts were initially mistaken that Williams and Crawford have the same number of Sixth Man honors. They were quickly corrected that Lou has one more than the latter. It was irrelevant to Horry, who pointed out the system is impractical and unrealistic.

“I don’t think you can name the award after either one of those guys.” When Stan Van Gundy prodded that even if the player has the most wins, Horry doubled down. “Let’s say you have one more than me, should it be named after you?” Stan thinks it should be valid, but Horry doesn’t think a single extra title should be the deciding factor.

Lou Williams throws in names of Sixth Man honor

Trae Young was the one who said that Williams should be the face of the Sixth Man of the Year award. Williams humbly added other honorees, Crawford as well as Manu Ginobili in the mix. As Horry puts it, how many times they win doesn’t take away from their actual work.

Horry has a point. The NBA Championship trophy is not named after Bill Russell, who has the most wins in history. It’s called the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Kareem Abdul Jabbar has the most MVP wins, but the trophy is named after Michael Jordan, who has one less MVP title against Kareem’s six.

Currently, the Sixth Man of the Year award is actually named after John Havlicek, the Boston Celtics legend. The eight-time champion made the sixth man role great, but he never won the honor. What is your take on renaming the awards?

WATCH THIS STORY | After Adding Michael Jordan’s Signature Move, Can Anthony Edwards Live Up to the Hype in FIBA World Cup for Team USA?