David Robinson

[SoNicks]

For our third and final nominee, please welcome David Robinson to the SLN hall of fame! The Admiral was famously a graduate of the US Naval Academy and sat out his first two seasons to fulfill his service commitments. That meant he entered the NBA as a 25 year old rookie…and ate from the moment he stepped on the court, averaging a 24-12 with an absurd 4 blocks that year. He quickly ascended the ranks as a top big man in the league, culminating in his selection as the 1995 MVP, though he was unfortunately demolished by Hakeem (who many felt should have won the award that year) in the playoffs. In fact, the Spurs didn’t see too much in the way of success…until Robinson had the foresight to get hurt in the 1998 sesaon, allowing the Spurs to tank their way to Tim Duncan. In the lockout-shortened year, the two proved a formidable duo as the Spurs won a Mickey Mouse title (am I doing this right?) in 1999, before he tacked on a second ring for good measure in 2003 before retiring that year. He spent his whole career with the Spurs franchise and finished with career averages of 21-11-3 blocks – the definition of a walking double-double.



His first 3 seasons in SLN with the Wolves and Heat he averaged…you guessed it, a 21-11-3. Who says that SLN isn’t like real life! A first round creation draft pick by the Wolves, he was shipped over to Miami in the 1998 season, where the Heat attempted to re-create the Twin Towers formula by pairing Shaq and D-Rob in an Inside offense. After some growing pains in 1998 and some statistical declines in 1999, it looked like the Heat were up the creek, until their magical 1999 run as a #7 seed all the way to an SLN title proved all the naysayers wrong. Robinson closed out his career in 2000 as a heavy minutes player, key rotation piece and possession monster with lower scoring volume & turnovers, even garnering a surprise All-Star game invite (probably the Commissioner’s pick for services rendered to the league) in his final year. His retirement was likely met with gratitude down in South Beach, both for his contributions to the franchise and the clearing of his salary from the Heat’s books to allow them to continue to build around Shaq for the tail end of his prime. Enjoy your retirement D-Rob, I’m sure you’ll stay incredibly jacked wherever you are.