David Robinson
David Robinson is often regarded as one of the greatest centers to ever play the game of basketball. He was born on August 6, 1965 to Ambrose and Freda Robinson. As a student he excelled in all of his classes, and sports except basketball. By his senior year in high school he stood an incredible 6 feet, 7 inches tall, but had never played organized basketball. However, the basketball coach at his high school noticed Robinson and added him to the team without ever testing him. Robinson soon earned all-area and all-district honors, but not the attention of any college basketball coaches. But this did not matter to him, as basketball was not his first priority. Getting an education and becoming a student in the United States Naval Academy were his main concerns. After scoring a 1320 on the SAT, his goal of joining the Naval Academy was soon accomplished (Lewis, 16).
David Robinson majored in mathematics and excelled in all of his classes at the United States Naval Academy. He was an outstanding all-around athlete and chess player. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate fraternity for African-American men. He soon chose to try out for the United States Naval Academy basketball team. By the time he played his first collegiate basketball game, he had grown to 6 ft 9 in, and over the course of his college career he grew to 7 ft 1 in. In David Robinson’s last two years, he was a consensus All-American and won college basketball’s two most prestigious player awards, the Naismith and Wooden Awards (Lewis, 30). By the time he left the academy he was viewed by most as the best basketball player in U.S. Naval Academy history! He holds the record of most blocks in a single season in college basketba...
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...l athlete (Basketball.com).
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 (NBA.com).
Works Cited
Lewis, Gregg, and Deborah Lewis. David Robinson. New York: ZonderKidz, 2002. 4-107.
"David Robinson." NBA.Com. 2003. National Basketball Association. Apr. 2008 .
"Men's College Basketball Almanac." Basketball.Com. 2002. NBA. Apr. 2008 .
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Robinson, Mark D. Ph. D. “Every Black Kid Should Strive to Be a Professional Athlete”.
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Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
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