wattabout big dog glen robinson, is he fully retired or plannin to get back into the nba?Funny you should ask:
NBA: Big Dog’s legacy
Dec. 24, 2005
By Justin Breen / Post-Tribune deputy sports editor
Glenn Robinson is waiting in Atlanta for a phone call that may never come. F About to turn 33 on Jan. 10, Robinson still is not signed by an NBA team, despite an 11-year career in which he’s averaged more than 20 points and six rebounds. F His former coach at Roosevelt, Ron Heflin, said the “Big Dog” still has perhaps five good years left in the NBA. F His former foe at Brebeuf High School and Indiana University, Alan Henderson, said Robinson could certainly help several NBA clubs with his scoring ability. F His former teammate and roommate at Purdue, Cuonzo Martin, said if Robinson wanted to play right now, he would.
So what’s the problem?
“If teams still found him worthy, he would still be playing, wouldn’t he?” said Bill Benner, a former longtime columnist for the Indianapolis Star. “If teams still found him worthy, then he’d be on a roster now.”
In that case, the No. 1 pick in the 1994 NBA draft might just retire.
And if that happens, then what’s Robinson’s legacy?
Is the small forward the best player to ever come out of Gary?
Is he one of the top players in the Hoosier State’s history? Was his career a success, considering the mammoth expectations fans had for him coming out of Purdue, when he was the consensus national player of the year in 1994?
And does the Big Dog have any bite left?
“I’m surprised that he’s not playing, only from the standpoint that he could help teams,” said Henderson, now a forward with the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I think he’s just waiting to see what’s a good fit for him.”
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Robinson, who is living in Atlanta and could not be reached for comment, averaged a freakish 30.3 ppg his last season at Purdue.
After sitting out his freshman season as a Prop 48 case, Robinson did it all with the Boilers — score, pass, rebound, block shots.
Robinson was simply unstoppable.
In only two seasons, he became the first player in Big Ten history to score more than 1,000 points, and he is the only Purdue player to notch more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 blocked shots.
“In my era, Glenn Robinson was the best at Purdue,” said Robinson’s former coach at Purdue, Gene Keady, who’s now an assistant with the Toronto Raptors. “I never saw anybody better out of Indiana during my time there.”
It was the natural progression from high school, where Robinson was the state’s Mr. Basketball after leading the Panthers to a title in 1991.
The state championship game was vintage Big Dog. He showed Henderson and the rest of the state why he was worthy of Indiana’s top individual honor with a game-high 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 51-32 victory before 30,345 at the Hoosier Dome (now the RCA Dome). Robinson guarded Henderson, also considered a favorite for Mr. Basketball, the whole game, holding him to 14 points.
“If I had that kind of talent, I would talk trash all the time,” Martin said. “But as good as he was, he wasn’t a kind of guy who grabbed the attention.”
But the attention was on Robinson anyway, especially after he was selected No. 1 by the Bucks.
He put up legitimate numbers in Milwaukee, even making two All-Star teams, but Benner said some fans thought Robinson could have done much, much more.
“I think as a high school and college player, he’s certainly up there among the all-time (Indiana) greats,” Benner said. “Unfortunately, his pro career kind of diminishes that legacy a little bit.
“As a No. 1 draft choice, people believed he would attain superstar status for years in the NBA. Simply, that didn’t happen.
“The level of player that came out of high school and Purdue, that places a pretty high level of expectation. He just didn’t quite get to that top rung of the ladder.”
Robinson’s agent, Charles Tucker, said he was the type of player who could go out and score 15 points in a few minutes, and no one would notice. While other players were bold and brash, Tucker said Robinson did his statistical damage in relative anonymity.
“It’s because his personality is like that. Glenn wasn’t a fan of himself, so when you get players who aren’t fans of themselves, sometimes they’re kind of subdued,” Tucker said. “He’s just a basic player. Sometimes basic players at the end of the day have all the points.”
The last two seasons, Robinson’s scoring average dropped greatly.
After being traded from Milwaukee — where he was the Bucks’ second leading all-time scorer behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — to Atlanta to Philadelphia, he averaged 16.6 points per game with the 76ers in 2003-04.
He signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs last season, playing just nine regular season games and averaging 10.0 ppg. Robinson did win an NBA title with the Spurs, but he averaged 8.7 minutes per game in the playoff run.
Those diminished postseason stats have reflected the ones throughout Robinson’s career. In 39 playoff games, he averaged only 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, and prior to the Spurs winning it all, Robinson’s teams never went past the conference finals. Plus, at Purdue, Robinson was one win away from reaching the Final Four, but the Boilermakers never got there after losing to Duke in the Elite Eight.
“Had he stayed at Purdue another season on a team that had all the tools to win a national championship, who knows what that might have done to his overall stature,” Benner said. “And you never got the feeling that he made any of his teams better.”
Before this season started, Tucker said several times that he expected Robinson to sign with someone within a few weeks.
That hasn’t happened.
“I would surmise his career would extend a little longer than that,” said Dick Barnett, a Roosevelt grad who won titles with the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973. “I would surmise that he still has some basketball left in him.”
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Perhaps injuries have ended Robinson’s NBA tenure.
Martin said he heard speculation that Robinson, who has dealt with elbow, wrist, ankle and leg ailments for much of his career, was injured again and had decided to hang it up.
Robinson also has experienced off-court problems. He was arrested in 2002 on charges of domestic battery, assault and unlawful possession of a firearm. In 1999, he was arrested and charged with disorderly intoxication outside a Miami nightclub.
“Any kind of that nonsense sticks with you,” Benner said. “I don’t think it helped his legacy at all.”
Said Martin: “I think he’s always been a quality person. Sometimes things take place and you move on.”
Tucker said the passing of Robinson’s mother, Christine Bridgeman, last spring has done most of the damage. He said Robinson was not ready to play — nor did he have the drive to compete — last season.
“He had a bad year last year. He didn’t have an interest in playing, and now people understand why,” Tucker said. “That took a lot out of Glenn. They were so close.”
If Robinson does play again, Heflin said his role will have to change from a leading scorer to more of a blue-collar grinder, possibly coming off the bench. Barnett said Robinson certainly will be making less money because “his status has changed.”
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Everyone interviewed said Robinson is unquestionably one the best basketball players in Indiana’s history, perhaps behind only Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson. Heflin would not say that Robinson is the top player ever from Gary, but he did slot him among the city’s all-time greats.
Apparently, there are other options for the Big Dog if he does call it quits. If Robinson’s NBA phone call never arrives, Martin said he easily could go into the stereo business.
“He’s one of those guys, you could give him stereo parts, and he put them together with ease,” Martin said. “He could tear it apart, without a manual and put it back together.
“It came naturally to him.”
It’s hard to imagine Robinson’s life without basketball, though.
Purdue personnel spotted his immense talent well before high school, and basketball has brought Robinson wealth, fame and respect.
Perhaps he’s hoping it brings him another ring of the phone, and another opportunity.
Contact Justin Breen at 648-3122 or
[email protected]
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