duncan228
09-10-2009, 11:52 PM
Sick: If Robinson had left the Spurs (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Sick_If_Robinson_had_left_the_Spurs.html)
By Buck Harvey
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — We stood at his locker, and he was animated. David Robinson often was.
This happened a while ago. Tim Duncan, at the time, was a kid running around St. Croix on fresh knees.
Robinson was a rookie. That night, talking after a game in cramped HemisFair, he suddenly felt woozy. He wobbled to the nearby restroom and became ill.
Minutes later, he returned to finish his thought.
That was Robinson. He didn't especially enjoy interviews, just as he didn't especially enjoy banging beefier opponents. But he believed in duty and in living up to his responsibilities. He initially signed with the Spurs, in part, because of this.
So as he receives the ultimate honor in his sport tonight, go back to the summer of 2001.
The Spurs ought to feel ill just thinking about it.
As it is, a large contingent of the Spurs brass will be here for the Hall of Fame festivities, and the stories will be repeated. They will talk about how Robinson once saved the franchise, and they will be wrong.
He saved the Spurs three times. First he signed, then he starred and finally he teamed with Duncan to win both a title and arena funding.
Maybe there was a fourth save, too, and Doc Rivers always believed in this one. Had Robinson not flown in from Hawaii to lobby Duncan in the summer of 2000, would the Spurs have won another championship?
That's why the summer of 2001 never fit. This time Robinson remained in Hawaii, and the Spurs flew to see him.
Their plan: If Robinson would take a huge pay-cut, they could rebuild.
The Spurs had already approached Chris Webber, then a free agent. They sent him a video highlighting the franchise and San Antonio.
The problem, as always, was money. The Spurs had about $16 million under the cap to spend, and Webber would need most of that.
“My impression is if they could sign Chris Webber, they would,” Robinson said then. “This is the first time in my career I thought I wouldn't finish as a San Antonio Spur.”
It's not clear what the Spurs would have done had Webber been interested. But Webber made the decision for everyone; he re-signed with Sacramento for $126 million.
Two years later, in the 2003 playoffs, Webber suffered a knee injury, underwent surgery and was never the same. Robinson, that same season, exited with another trophy.
The Spurs had been doing what teams do. They didn't know Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili would become stars, and they were nervous Duncan could still leave. A younger Webber was a possible answer.
Besides, Hall of Fame players get traded. Hall of Fame players hold up new jerseys in new cities and smile.
But wasn't Robinson different? Given his own commitment to San Antonio, didn't he deserve the same in return?
Once, asked about Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who volunteered for military duty and would later be killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire, Robinson said:
“It's like we tell the kids at the school, going out and making money, or being more famous, is not what it's all about. It's about service. It's about believing in something, and fighting for it. Sure, you can spend your whole life working to be the president of a Fortune 500 company, but in the end, if that's all you are, who really cares?”
Maybe nothing better defines his Hall of Fame stature. He was more than a basketball player, in attitude and community and service.
And if 2001 have gone differently?
Nothing would have been the same. Not the Spurs, not 2003. Not tonight.
By Buck Harvey
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — We stood at his locker, and he was animated. David Robinson often was.
This happened a while ago. Tim Duncan, at the time, was a kid running around St. Croix on fresh knees.
Robinson was a rookie. That night, talking after a game in cramped HemisFair, he suddenly felt woozy. He wobbled to the nearby restroom and became ill.
Minutes later, he returned to finish his thought.
That was Robinson. He didn't especially enjoy interviews, just as he didn't especially enjoy banging beefier opponents. But he believed in duty and in living up to his responsibilities. He initially signed with the Spurs, in part, because of this.
So as he receives the ultimate honor in his sport tonight, go back to the summer of 2001.
The Spurs ought to feel ill just thinking about it.
As it is, a large contingent of the Spurs brass will be here for the Hall of Fame festivities, and the stories will be repeated. They will talk about how Robinson once saved the franchise, and they will be wrong.
He saved the Spurs three times. First he signed, then he starred and finally he teamed with Duncan to win both a title and arena funding.
Maybe there was a fourth save, too, and Doc Rivers always believed in this one. Had Robinson not flown in from Hawaii to lobby Duncan in the summer of 2000, would the Spurs have won another championship?
That's why the summer of 2001 never fit. This time Robinson remained in Hawaii, and the Spurs flew to see him.
Their plan: If Robinson would take a huge pay-cut, they could rebuild.
The Spurs had already approached Chris Webber, then a free agent. They sent him a video highlighting the franchise and San Antonio.
The problem, as always, was money. The Spurs had about $16 million under the cap to spend, and Webber would need most of that.
“My impression is if they could sign Chris Webber, they would,” Robinson said then. “This is the first time in my career I thought I wouldn't finish as a San Antonio Spur.”
It's not clear what the Spurs would have done had Webber been interested. But Webber made the decision for everyone; he re-signed with Sacramento for $126 million.
Two years later, in the 2003 playoffs, Webber suffered a knee injury, underwent surgery and was never the same. Robinson, that same season, exited with another trophy.
The Spurs had been doing what teams do. They didn't know Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili would become stars, and they were nervous Duncan could still leave. A younger Webber was a possible answer.
Besides, Hall of Fame players get traded. Hall of Fame players hold up new jerseys in new cities and smile.
But wasn't Robinson different? Given his own commitment to San Antonio, didn't he deserve the same in return?
Once, asked about Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who volunteered for military duty and would later be killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire, Robinson said:
“It's like we tell the kids at the school, going out and making money, or being more famous, is not what it's all about. It's about service. It's about believing in something, and fighting for it. Sure, you can spend your whole life working to be the president of a Fortune 500 company, but in the end, if that's all you are, who really cares?”
Maybe nothing better defines his Hall of Fame stature. He was more than a basketball player, in attitude and community and service.
And if 2001 have gone differently?
Nothing would have been the same. Not the Spurs, not 2003. Not tonight.