David Robinson (basketball)

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David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965 in Key West, Florida) is a former NBA basketball player, who is considered one of the greatest to ever play. A born-again Christian, Robinson is also an amateur musician who enjoys playing various instruments at home. His nickname is "The Admiral", based on his service as an officer in the United States Navy. Robinson is now on staff at the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where Max Lucado is the pulpit minister.

When Robinson was young, his family moved many times, as his father was a Navy officer. After his father retired from the Navy, the family settled in Manassas, Virginia, where he attended Osbourn Park High School and played just one year of high school basketball. Robinson scored a 1320 on the SAT, and enrolled in the U.S. Naval Academy, where he majored in mathematics.

Robinson was an outstanding all-around athlete and chess player; during the physical tests that the Academy gave all of its incoming plebes, he scored higher on the gymnastics portions of the test than anyone in his class, except for the plebes who were slated to be on the Academy's gymnastics team. This was even more impressive because he was 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) when he arrived at Annapolis. To put this in perspective, virtually all male gymnasts are well under 6 ft (1.83 m) tall, and the service academies prohibit anyone taller than 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) from enrolling. However, the academies do not drop students who grow past the limit after enrolling there, which would prove to be important to Robinson.

Contents

1 College basketball career
2 NBA career

2.1 Champion
2.2 Champion again
2.3 Career awards/accomplishments

3 Charitable efforts
4 See also

College basketball career

He played NCAA basketball at the Naval Academy, choosing jersey number 50 after his idol Ralph Sampson. By the time of his first basketball game for Navy, he was 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m), and would eventually grow to 7 ft 1 in(2.16 m). In his last two years, he was a consensus All-American, and won college basketball's two most prestigious player awards, the Naismith and Wooden Awards, as a first classman (senior). Upon graduation, he was eligible for the 1987 NBA draft. He was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the first overall pick, but had to wait two more years before he could join the NBA because he still had two years of duty left with the Navy. In a mildly controversial move, the Navy excused him from three of the normal five years of his military commitment because his height made it impossible for him to be deployed in many roles (e.g. aviation, the submarine corps, or many ships). Robinson continued to serve in a reserve role with the Navy and was regularly featured in recruiting materials for the service. Despite the nickname of "Admiral", Robinson's actual rank when his commitment expired was Lieutenant Junior Grade. He left active duty at that rank. [link]

Robinson putting up a shot over Karl Malone.

NBA career

Robinson was finally able to join the Spurs for the 1989-1990 season, and he helped the team make the playoffs, where they lost in seven games against eventual western conference champions Portland Trail Blazers. He was named the NBA rookie of the year after that season, and SEGA immediately produced a game starring Robinson called David Robinson's Supreme Court.

The Spurs kept making the playoffs, but not winning the championship. Robinson made the 1992 US Olympic Dream Team that won the gold medal at in Barcelona. During the 1993-94 season, he became locked in a duel for scoring champion with Shaquille O'Neal. By the last game of the season, he needed 69 points to win the scoring title -- he scored 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers to win it.

Robinson went on to win the NBA's MVP trophy in 1995, and in 1996 he was named one of the [50 Greatest Players in NBA History]. Still, from 1991 to 1998, only the Chicago Bulls and the Houston Rockets were able to claim the NBA championship that Robinson desired so much. The losses against the Rockets were painful for Robinson, because his rival Hakeem Olajuwon outgunned Robinson. Robinson's title dreams seemed to come to an end when he was seriously injured in 1997, and the Spurs fell to a dismal 20–62. Robinson's injury proved to be a blessing in disguise. The Spurs had the first pick in the next draft and acquired Tim Duncan, another crucial factor in their success over the next several years.

Champion

Before the start of the 1998–1999 season, the NBA owners and David Stern locked out the players to force negotiation on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NBA Player's Association. The lockout lasted for 202 days until ultimately a new agreement was made by both sides. The season began February 5, 1999, therefore making it literally the 1999 NBA season. After playing a truncated 50 game season, the Spurs finished with a record of 37–13 which was the best in the NBA and gave the Spurs homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Spurs were very successful in the first three rounds of the playoffs, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, and Portland Trail Blazers with a combined record of 11–1. The combination of Robinson and second-year, 6 ft 11 in(2.11 m) forward Tim Duncan was enough to win it all. They beat the New York Knicks in five games to become the NBA championship team. Although Duncan was named the Finals MVP, many credited Robinson's leadership as the essential component in the championship run.

Champion again

Robinson announced he would retire from basketball after the 2003 campaign.

On June 15, 2003, in what could perhaps be called a fitting finale to Robinson's career, the Spurs won the 2003 NBA championship with an 88–77 victory over the New Jersey Nets in Game Six of the 2003 NBA Finals. Robinson, who scored 13 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in his final game, credited God for the win. Known as the "Twin Towers," he and then-league MVP Tim Duncan shared Sports Illustrated magazine's 2003 Sportsmen of the Year award.

His career averages are of 21.1 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, 3.0 blocks per game and 2.5 assists per game. He is one of only a small group of players to have scored over 20,000 career points in the NBA, and one of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double (with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons on February 17, 1994).

Career awards/accomplishments

His list of awards and accomplishments is long and include a number of records as well as sharing a number of distinctions with very few other luminaries of the game; for his on the court play, he rightly was named among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

NBA Champion (1999, 2003)
NBA MVP (1995)
NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1992)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1990)
All-NBA First Team (1991, '92, '95, '96)
All-NBA Second Team (1994, '98)
All-NBA Third Team (1990, '93, 2000, '01)
All-Defensive First Team (1991, '92, '95, '96)
All-Defensive Second Team (1990, '93, '94, '98)
10-time NBA All-Star
Only player in NBA history to win the Rebounding, Blocked Shots, and Scoring Titles and Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and MVP
One of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double
NBA Sportsmanship Award (2001)
Third player in NBA history to rank among the league’s top 10 in five categories (7th in scoring (23.2 ppg), 4th in rebounding (12.2 rpg), 1st in blocks (4.49 per game), 5th in steals (2.32 per game) and 7th in field-goal percentage (.551))
First player in NBA history to rank among the top five in rebounding, blocks and steals in a single season
Fourth player ever to score 70+ in an NBA game
3-time Olympian (1988, '92, '96)
One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996)
Led NBA in Scoring (1993–94 season) - 29.8 ppg
Led NBA in Rebounding (1990–91 season) - 13.0 rpg
Led NBA in Blocked Shots (1991–92 season) - 4.49 bpg
Holds record for most IBM Awards (1990, '91, '94, '95, '96)
His 10,497 rebounds and 2,954 blocked shots are the most by any player wearing a San Antonio Spurs jersey, and his 20,790 points are second most behind only George Gervin's 23,602. (Had only Gervin's NBA numbers been taken into account, Robinson would be #1 in this category; Gervin scored 4,219 of his points while the franchise was in the American Basketball Association.)
Gold Medal in Basketball World Championship (1986)

Charitable efforts

Robinson will not only be remembered for his outstanding accomplishments throughout his NBA career, but also for his contributions in his community.

In 1991, Robinson visited with fifth graders at Gates Elementary School in San Antonio and challenged them to finish school and go to college. He offered a $2,000 scholarship to everyone who did. In 1998, proving even better than his word, Robinson awarded $8,000 to each of those students who had completed his challenge. In perhaps his greatest civic and charitable achievement, David and his wife, Valerie, founded the Carver Academy in San Antonio, which opened its doors in September 2001. To date, the Robinsons have donated more than $9 million to the school, believed to be the largest contribution ever made by a professional athlete.

In recognition of his outstanding contributions to charity, in March 2003, the NBA renamed its award for outstanding charitable efforts in honor of Robinson. Winners of the NBA's Community Assist Award receive the David Robinson Plaque, with the inscription "Following the standard set by NBA Legend David Robinson who improved the community piece by piece." The award is given out monthly by the league to recognize players for their charitable efforts.