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jordan did seem like he couldnt let his career go basketball is everything to him.
Robinson loved to win and compete but basketball wasnt his life and i respect that
Not like Mike, Robinson wins
Buck Harvey
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jerry Sloan choked up when he talked about his late wife. John Stockton choked up when he talked about his late mother.
Michael Jordan cried, with tears running down his face, after watching a video of his basketball career.
“The game of basketball has been everything to me,” Jordan said after he spent considerable time thanking all of those who had inspired him to crush them.
Take a bow, David Robinson.
At this time in your life, you have surpassed the greatest basketball player who ever lived.
Not that Robinson would see it that way. That was true earlier in the day, when Jordan had been sequestered in a wing of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame — right next to the Michael Jordan exhibit.
Jordan emerged, with fans pushed back by security, and he walked toward the podium for his turn. All eyes in the audience turned in that direction.
Robinson, meanwhile, still was on the podium, speaking.
Robinson didn't notice. Had he, he wouldn't have cared. Robinson always reacted to what mattered to him, not to what mattered to others. That's why he was the perfect MVP, two-ringed scoring champ to be inducted with Jordan.
Stockton and Sloan fit, too. They've never been the kind of men bothered by a lack of attention.
But Stockton and Sloan were closer to Jordan in commitment to the sport. Robinson, in this group, was the outsider. That was clear in 1992, when Stockton, Robinson and Jordan joined in allegiance to both country and Nike.
Robinson and Jordan occasionally played golf between Olympic engagements, and Charles Barkley was a mutual friend. But when they closed the gym doors and scrimmaged, their differences were obvious.
Jordan said Friday that one day in Monte Carlo — attended by just a handful of media — might have been the best game he ever played in. There were 10 Hall of Famers going at it for pride.
Jordan said, privately, he couldn't understand why Robinson didn't live for this as the others did. Jordan called Robinson “The Negotiator” then because Jordan thought he analyzed too much.
Robinson cared about basketball. He liked winning, too, which made for a faith-based joke Friday night. Then, he asked if anyone in the audience had ever gotten on his knees to really pray for something.
To Robinson, that's what he did for Tim Duncan.
But Robinson always filled the lane with a contrasting set of priorities. That summer in Barcelona, for example, his Dream Team moment was personal. Once he went to the roof of his Barcelona hotel to play the saxophone with a jazz musician.
Robinson hadn't grown up loving basketball. He had grown to 7-foot-1. He'd been given the body and the athletic ability, and he worked this sport as he would a job.
Jordan breathed it. “Take away that little, round ball,” Jordan said of this year's class, “and we all would have struggled in life.”
Robinson wouldn't have. He would have been content as a naval officer, or as a mathematician, or as a preacher.
That was evident as he stood on stage in Springfield's Symphony Hall and spoke individually to his three sons. He didn't tear up, perhaps because he understood; as great as this honor was, it was just an honor.
Jordan, instead, can't let go of the game, and his list of perceived slights was laughable. The so-called freeze-out involving George Gervin in the mid-'80s was one. Jordan still hangs on that?
Jordan has held the Hall of Fame at a distance, because it signals an end. He admits he will never have anything that means as much.
“You may look up someday,” he said at the end of his speech Friday night, “and see me playing at the age of 50.”
Robinson?
He heads home to San Antonio, to his family, to his church, to his school.
As if life is just starting.
jordan did seem like he couldnt let his career go basketball is everything to him.
Robinson loved to win and compete but basketball wasnt his life and i respect that
David's motivation to win a le was that it was his duty. He was a #1 draft pick, he was paid millions of dollars to make the playoffs and bring a championship to city of San Antonio, and so that's what he played for. And he played hard, and he gave it his all, and he gave up his body, and celebrity to achieve it. It's wrong when people say he didn't try or didn't want too...he just wasn't in love with it like most other any NBA players are. But he was commited to living up the expectations of him...not because he wanted it, but because everyone else in San Antonio did.
His motivation was never to be the greatest basketball player ever, or win more championships than anyone...I'm sure he liked winning(liked it a of a lot better than he did losing), but it was never about personal glory for him.
If it had been? He probably wouldn't have stepped aside for Tim Duncan.
I had the same reaction as Buck after hearing that remark.Jordan breathed it. “Take away that little, round ball,” Jordan said of this year's class, “and we all would have struggled in life.”
Robinson would have been just fine without basketball.
He was blessed with the athleticism and body to play basketball, and I no doubt feel he enjoyed and respected the game to give it an honest effort, but it was just never his life's passion.
And to think that he's a top 10 All-Time Center, given his late start and path to the league, it just speaks to how special of a talent he really was.
How could Ice, a member of the West team, have anything to do with the freeze-out of Jordan other than doing his job and playing D?
I actually thought the same thing when Mike said this. I quickly looked at Dave and he had this thoughtful, introspective look on his face.Jordan breathed it. “Take away that little, round ball,” Jordan said of this year's class, “and we all would have struggled in life.”
Robinson wouldn't have. He would have been content as a naval officer, or as a mathematician, or as a preacher.
On the other hand, I kinda feel for Mike. As Buck writes, the game was all that he ever had. It's what defined him. It's gotta be terribly difficult to leave that all behind, only to look forward to...? What? Reminiscing about what was?
Dammit. Not fast enough.
That is the point David Robinson has been trying to make his entire career and life....endless success in personal achievement and glory isn't some kind of gateway to satisfaction and happiness. David has plenty of that but it doesn't mean much....I think he does it so people will listen to him and so he can help others, not because he gets off on it.
Michael Jordan is not happy because of his success...I have never gotten that vibe from him. Maybe for a few seconds as he won a championship he found something, but it didn't last, that's why he had to keep coming back for more.
He's right there with Michael Jackson...I wouldn't want either of those guys celebrity, it looks like total misery to me. Yeah it'd be cool to knock down shots and be everybody's sports hero like Jordan....but is it worth never being able to live a normal life?
David can walk around San Antonio and is treated like a typical person even though the only difference between and he and Jordan NBA accomplishment wise is 4 NBA championships. His great partner in winning is a true friend, instead of a rival, he is beloved and respected(except for a few idiots) by his country, by his city, by his friends...
Jordan has a wall between he and everyone he knows, anything he does is a spectacle...and he's got nothing to complete him now.
IMO, that's what David's been saying his entire career, that's what he was saying at the end of his speech.
He got that story book ending to his career, because it wasn't the most important thing to him and he had something else. Jordan got the same ending but it wasn't enough for him so he came back and lost it.
David is a smart smart guy, able to achieve almost the same level of success in things he isn't interested in as people who are obsessed with that kind of success....and I think he knows exactly what he's talking about. More people should listen to him I think.
I'll say this too...and the end of the road, Michael Jordan is going to have moved a lot closer to where David Robinson is at now in his outlook than David is going to go Michael's way, because there's really nothing that way, and David already knows it.
Last edited by whottt; 09-12-2009 at 01:39 AM.
Was a surprise to me too...wasn't Jordan injured the year he and Ice were teamates? So it wasn''t that year.
I always thought Ice and Jordan were friends...
Edit: Fixed
Last edited by whottt; 09-12-2009 at 01:41 AM.
The greatest thing about that little round basketball was that that it brought David Robinson to us- San Antonio. He would have been just fine without it, but the path might not have brought him here.
I'm pretty sure they are the same person, so ofcourse they are friends.
yeah you'd hope so....
Give me a ing break, that chip he carried on his shoulder was exactly what made him the best.
Nah, there was lots of static between Ice and Jordan. Jordan was pissed about the freeze-out, he was pissed that Ice made more money than him, and they both played the same role on the team. Jordan was an enormous prick to all his teammates.
Never heard all that...not that the time, not since. In fact I've always heard Jordan give Ice credit for teaching him how to win scoring les...
I wasn't in SA when all that went down and the sports media sucked back then...so it probably was closer to what you are describing.
I don't see how anybody can dislike George Gervin though...
But it's also why he's got rivals instead of friends and picked someone who near as I can tell was just about a total stranger to induct him...like he said, even David Thompson probably didn't see that coming(and Thompson agreed). You ask me...I'd rather do what David did than Michael...David seems to be more at peace.
I do think it's funny though, Michael Jordan announced his return after David announced his retirement, and he knew full well he was going to overshadow anyone he went into the Hall with...he picks David Thompson to be his presenter after George Gervin is David's presenter...these two are definitely opposites with totally opposite world views and it wouldn't surprise me to find out Jordan did all that just to overshadow and compete with David Robinson.
And David Robinson couldn't care less.
Here is the story of Jordan and Gervin.
When Gervin was traded to the bulls in the mid-80's Gervin was having a real drug problem. He along with many of the Bulls used to sniff coke.
when Jordan arrived he tried to basically take over the team, and with good reason, he was easily the best player and future of the franchise. This of course didn't sit well with any of the current players. Think of Jordan as the same guy he was later in life without the credentials to back it up.
In an effort to teach the kid a lesson the bulls players got together and basically decided to act like he wasn't even on the court during games.
It was easy to do this since all the other bulls were pretty much coke heads while Jordan was basically drug free. Jordan didn't associate with the other players outside of practice.
what it came down to was that Jordan tried to take on a role that the rest of his team didn't think he deserved, and since the team sucked really really bad, no one cared to be a leader so they pulled the little freeze out on him.
No one else cared because frankly it was the middle of the Laker/Celtic hay days.
I thought his coke problem began in SA....
Sounds plausible enough...but rookies always get that kind of treatment. He included Isiah with Gervin though...and what ever freeze outs there were Isiah and Gervin weren't ever in on one toegether.when Jordan arrived he tried to basically take over the team, and with good reason, he was easily the best player and future of the franchise. This of course didn't sit well with any of the current players. Think of Jordan as the same guy he was later in life without the credentials to back it up.
In an effort to teach the kid a lesson the bulls players got together and basically decided to act like he wasn't even on the court during games.
It was easy to do this since all the other bulls were pretty much coke heads while Jordan was basically drug free. Jordan didn't associate with the other players outside of practice.
what it came down to was that Jordan tried to take on a role that the rest of his team didn't think he deserved, and since the team sucked really really bad, no one cared to be a leader so they pulled the little freeze out on him.
No one else cared because frankly it was the middle of the Laker/Celtic hay days.
I wonde why he didn't mention getting into a fight with Steve Kerr...
I'm pretty sure Gervin's drug problem started in the 70's not when he was traded to the bulls. Forgot about Isiah, and yea Isiah did it too in the All-star game.
Isiah always hated Jordan because he felt he was the heir to Bird and the Celts when they went down hill. Isiah orchestrated some shady things to make Jordan look bad in his early year. Jordan returned the favor by not allowing Isiah to be on the original dream team.
When the bulls finally beat the Pistons the big thing was the Pistons walked off the court without a word to the bulls players.
It just seems like the article is saying that David wasn't as committed to the sports as Jordan, Stockton, or Sloan and that somehow that's a good thing because his life isn't over after basketball, it's just beginning.
To me that's utter bull .
He wasn't. Yet there he is in the HOF.
and that somehow that's a good thing because his life isn't over after basketball, it's just beginning.
To me that's utter bull .
You just remember you said that when Drob runs for President.
Dude we'll never have a real black President, what's wrong with you?
I, too, have always thought the criticism Dave received about his at ude toward basketball was way off-base. Critics acted as though he didn't want to win or that he didn't have a passion for basketball, simply because he never allowed himself to be defined solely by the game.
With all the highlights I've seen of him recently and from following his career since Day One in San Antonio, I can tell anyone that nothing can be further from the truth. While Avery gets credit for being the fiery leader of the team, however it was David who was the unquestioned soul of those teams. Teams, which by the way, weren't very good. His leadership style, while different from Avery, was very apparent. Watch the highlights of David's career and you'll see there were hundreds of instances where David led the pre-game pep talks, pre-game prayers, roused the bench players to stay ready to be called upon when needed, and inspired his team by his on-court play and his off-court encouragement. It didn't happen early, he had to grow into that role.
Anyone who thinks David didn't care about winning couldn't possibly have known how dejected and depressed he was after that stunning upset by the Rockets in the '95 WCF, where Hakeem Olajuwon literally took apart Robinson and the Spurs, as a whole. A period he described as the "lowest moment of his career". I doubt a player like Joe Barry Carroll ever uttered those words.
Anyone who thinks David didn't have a passion for the game couldn't know how starved he was for to play around a more talented roster than what was given him earlier in his career. Or how much he worked to become a better player; the manner in which he kept himself in top condition. Or how elated he was to have the great Tim Duncan fall into the Spurs laps with the first overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft lottery. A point he made very evident during his HOF induction speech.
If anybody ever thought David didn't care about winning, just watch how jacked up he was during the 1999 NBA playoffs leading up to that epic battle versus the scrappy New York Knicks. Or his reaction and the jubilation that he exhibited after winning that first le. For himself, Sean and Avery, it was the culmination of a tedious journey. Watch the utter joy that he expressed during that final season leading up to the 2003 championship victory over the Nets. Along the way, David himself spoke of how much he was enjoying the journey of what was his farewell season. Training camp, practice, games, he was simply taking it all in for the last time. He even said what every athlete says as they are about to leave their respective sport - that "while he would miss the compe ion, he would mainly miss the camraderie with the fellas in the lockerroom".
While some critics, fans, and even some opponents developed an inaccurate perception of Big Dave, the fact remains that his whole life has been and is about service - whether it be toward his community, his country, his family, his students or his teammates. As Doc Rivers once said, "It wasn't until I became a teammate of his that I truly came to understand what a great player and better person he really is". For Robinson to be able to deliver upon is desire to bring a championship to the city of San Antonio, had to have been a watershed moment for him. It's obvious that he felt an enormous debt to the city since his arrival in 1987. This is just speculation on my part, but I would guess that he probably wanted to win those championships more for the fans, the organization and former Spurs players, than he did for himself. He's always maintained a close connection with George Gervin, so that tells you something about his appreciation for the Spurs history.
While, it's clear that David had a passion for a lot of other things in his well-balanced life and would have likely been successful in whatever he chose to do, he never forgot that basketball was the vehicle which provided him the platform for his success. And that his faith in God and the talented gifts he received were to be utilized to make the world around him better. That's not just passion for his sport, that's a passion for life and humanity.
In the end, David didn't need to be like Mike or anyone else. Who he was then and who he is now is good enough. We, as Spurs fans, are truly fortunate that he passed this way.
Senor Spur,
This post was well-written.
I believe you have summed up a good analysis about DRob's career.
I must admit that while TD is my favorite player....it was DRob's faith and inspiration that has changed my life.
I moved to San Antonio six years ago (I just celebrated it last week) from Albuquerque. And I was probably the only Spurs fan in Albquerque at that time. Everybody was either Lakers or Nuggets fans. (Denver is only 5 hours away from Albuquerque).
But, I had heard DRob speak about his faith after a game. I forget which game it was...but something told me I was going to move to San Antonio and become a believer in Christ.
Well, some months later after that interview....some things started to fall in place and I got a job in San Antonio after one phone interview.
I must admit I wasn't a believer in Christ at that time....but I felt his hand was behind this. I made a promise that if I moved to San Antonio.....I would give my life to him.
I left Albuquerque in Sept. 2003 and put all my belongings into my Maroon 1996 Infiniti I-30 and honored that promise I had made to God since then. I drove from Albuquerque and when I got to I-10, there is nothing on that interstate after you leave El Paso until you reach the Hill Country!
While there has been some ups and downs, I've been blessed with a wonderful wife, a great stepson, and my daughter born a month ago.
I ended up finding out what church DRob went to and became a member. So I owed him a debt of gra ude and you never know what kind of influence you can have on people when you speak about your faith honestly and also your life can back it up.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians who can recite scripture and do the "Church lifestyle" really well....but their lives completely contradict that. And I have seen DRob many times at church and I have never gotten a sense of phoniness from him.
I'm forever grateful to DRob for putting that seed in me...even though I don't know him personally.
And to see him last night and hear his speech really touched me.
Congratulations to DRob for his career and induction into the Hall of Fame and helping gain another Brother-in-Christ.
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