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CHICAGO – With the Spurs stuck in 10th place in the Western Conference at the All-Star break, many fans are struggling to come to grips with the possibility the franchise’s incredible streak of 22 consecutive postseason appearances may soon come to an end.

Robert Horry, who helped the Spurs win two of their five NBA titles, has some advice for Spurs Nation: Remember and be grateful for the good times.

“For (small-market San Antonio) to have won as many championships as it did is amazing,” Horry said. “You can look at a lot of great places that haven’t won a championship, a lot of great players who haven’t won championships. They (Spurs fans) better be happy that they were able to win some. I know all of us who did win championships are happy and grateful we did.”

Speaking to the Express-News at an NBA All-Star Weekend community-outreach event Thursday at Emmett Till Fine & Performing Arts Magnet School, Horry was asked if he could fathom a postseason without the Spurs, who at 23-31 are five games behind Memphis in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“I can fathom it,” Horry said, “because it happens to the best of them. It happened to the Celtics, it happened to the Lakers. People don’t understand how dominant the Spurs have been over the years. It was bound to come to an end.”

Horry pointed out that the Spurs’ success has prevented them from acquiring blue-chip talent in the draft. Indeed, the last player they drafted in the lottery was Tim Duncan at No. 1 overall in 1997. Since that watershed moment in franchise history, the Spurs haven’t entered the draft with a pick higher than the No. 18 selection they used in 2018 to snag guard Lonnie Walker IV.

“People forget, that when you are that good, you don’t get draft picks, so you don’t get better through the draft, and you have to get better through (free agents) trying to come there,” Horry said. “They did that with LaMarcus *(Aldridge) in (2015) and hopefully other people follow suit. But it might be they don’t…I hate to say it, but San Antonio is not a destination where guys want to go play.”

Horry said he admires Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for continuing to try to build a winner without the “anchors” he used to have on the roster. He also indicated he isn’t ready to rule out a turnaround that vaults them back into the playoff picture.

“Anything can happen, anything is possible,” Horry said.

Nicknamed “Big Shot Bob” for his ability to hit clutch shots, including one in the 2005 Finals that helped the Spurs beat the Detroit Pistons in seven games, Horry finished his 16-season career with seven NBA titles, the most for any player not to have played for the 1960s Boston Celtics.

In addition to his two with the Spurs, Horry won championships in 1994 and 1995 with Houston and 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But on Friday, his focus was on helping young Chicagoans understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Teaming with a few other NBA and WNBA players past and present, along with Kaiser Permanente and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Horry joined about 100 students in dedicating refurbished “total health” spaces at a school renamed in 2006 to honor former student, Emmett Till.

Till was 14 when he was brutally tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives in Mississippi in summer 1955. His death helped trigger the civil rights movement.

“For me, I always think back to my hometown of Andalusia (Ala.),” Horry said when asked what motivated him to be part of Thursday’s event. “You have a lot of schools where you don’t have outreach and economic benefits. As a kid, I remember going into a gym that had been refurbished, and it made you feel good that people cared in the community. This is a feel good moment, and it’s always wonderful to do feel good moments and have the young adults know you take pride in them and their environment and their community.

"…If you look at the smiling faces, you knew they were happy for us to be here.”