David Robinson’s NBA draft was truly one of its kind. The NBA veteran had commitments at the time that he needed to get behind. Despite that, the San Antonio Spurs went ahead with the gamble and drafted the youngster. He would go on to become a Spurs legend, winning two NBA trophies and an MVP award in his illustrious career.

Recently the NBA veteran sat down with Joe Buck on the Undeniable show to talk about his journey. Robinson detailed what went behind the scenes in the year he was drafted, and how he balanced his commitment to the Navy with being drafted.

David Robinson’s journey from the Navy to the NBA

Robinson was the #1 pick in the draft by the Spurs. He said, “It created a really unique situation because the team that drafted me might lose that draft pick. So that’s a pretty tough thing to do.” The biggest concern for the Spurs might have been the fact that he was with the Navy at the time. However, his hooping abilities were the prime draw for the Spurs and the rest of the NBA, as such a situation is rare to come by. Despite the concern, the Spurs went ahead with the gamble.

“I wasn’t going to play. I had to sit out in the Navy, so it created this really unique situation for me that kind of gave me a lot of leverage…and it was kind of a perfect scenario for me”, he said. Talking about the commitment that the Spurs showed toward him, Robinson said that they were brilliant with their approach. He said, “They were fantastic. I got a chance to go and visit the city and they put on the biggest show they could. We had a big parade.”

Despite his own commitments and the Spurs’ enthusiasm in bringing him home, Robinson had his eyes set on the things that matter the most for an athlete. He said, “That was all wonderful, but I wanted to know “are you guys committed to winning?” ’cause that’s all I cared about.”

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The San Antonio franchise did show him that they were prepared and willing to do their best to win championships. The NBA veteran went on to bring laurels to the city that welcomed him like a champion ever since he was signed. Apart from the 2 championships and an MVP award, Robinson also made 10 All-Star appearances and scored over 20,000 points for the franchise.

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