HORRY FINDS A NEW HOME LAKERS' KEY ROLE PLAYER SIGNS 1-YEAR SPURS DEAL.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

Robert Horry never was big on sentiment or self-promotion, so there wasn't much to mark the occasion as he formally broke ties with the Lakers on Wednesday. Just a quick signature and a sigh, and he was gone.

Horry signed a one-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs, but eschewed the usual press conference or formal announcement. By the time the news circulated, he was already on a plane, returning to his Houston home.

``They were offering, and it was a good situation to be in,'' Horry said by telephone from the San Antonio airport. ``It ain't like it's a garbage team. It's a great team. Sometimes, luck falls on you. I think luck just fell on me this time.''

Good fortune and Horry have shared the same address for much of his NBA career. He has five championship rings, the past three earned with the Lakers. Now he joins the reigning champions, who ousted the Lakers from the playoffs in May.

Horry will earn $5 million next season - about the same amount he would have made had the Lakers picked up his contract option. San Antonio holds a $5 million option for 2004-05.

Horry said the Spurs were ``my No. 2 choice.'' His first choice was the Lakers, but ``they never even made me an offer.''

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak declined comment because the deal had not yet been announced.

For six and a half seasons, Horry was the Lakers' most critical role player, their best frontcourt defender and, sometimes, their savior.

He will long be remembered for the numerous buzzer-beating shots he hit, especially the 3-pointer that beat the Sacramento Kings in Game 4 of the 2002 conference finals.

But Horry's legendary touch failed him this spring, when he missed 36 of 38 attempts from the arc during the playoffs.

His fate was irrevocably changed when a potential game-winning 3-pointer bounced out at the final buzzer of Game 5 of the conference semifinals at San Antonio. The Spurs finished off the Lakers two nights later.

``It was extremely tough, man,'' Horry said of leaving the Lakers. ``We tried to wait and wait to see what the Lakers were going to do. And they said, `Robert's not our first option. He's our second or third option.' I just didn't feel like they wanted me back.''

``It's disappointing after six and a half years,'' Horry said. ``That's part of the NBA. You've got to get used to it and you've got to move on. It was fun while it lasted, though.''

Horry will once again be teammates with one of the league's elite big men, but he joked about the differences between Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal.

``I dealt with two of the most ballhogging people in the world,'' Horry said, referring to O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. ``(Duncan) is not like that. You're not going to read anything in the paper about `My teammates need to get me the ball,' like another big man we know.'' Horry remains skeptical about the Lakers' new strategy of collecting Hall of Famers instead of role players. They signed Gary Payton and Karl Malone last week.

``Sometimes you have too many big dogs, it doesn't work out for you,'' he said.

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com

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``They were offering, and it was a good situation to be in,'' Robert Horry said after signing with Spurs.

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