Nate Robinson

For the American football defensive tackle, see Nate Robinson (American football).

Nate Robinson

Nate Robinson during his tenure with the Boston Celtics.
No. 3   Oklahoma City Thunder
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	May 31, 1984 (1984-05-31) (age 27)
Place of birth	Seattle, Washington
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College	Washington
NBA Draft	2005 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21st overall
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Pro career	2005–present
Career history
New York Knicks (2005–2010) Boston Celtics (2010–2011) Oklahoma City Thunder (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (2005) 3× NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion (2006, 2009, 2010)
Stats at NBA.com

Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984, in Seattle, Washington) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Robinson is listed at just 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) with shoes,^[1] making him one of the shortest players currently in the NBA behind Earl Boykins, but Robinson has an extremely high vertical leap of 43.5 inches (110 cm), ^[2] currently one of the highest vertical leaps of any NBA player. ^[3]

Robinson has served as a successful point guard for both the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics, achieving career stats of 12 points, 1 steal, and 3 assists in an average of 24 minutes played per game.^[4] Robinson is the NBA's first three-time slam dunk champion.^[5]

High school

Robinson spent his first two years of high school at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. He moved to Union City, California, where he played for James Logan High School for one year, and then returned to Rainier Beach. At Beach, he excelled in basketball, football, and track. He led his basketball team to a 28–1 record and won the AAA state championship as a senior with University of Louisville star Terrence Williams, USC alumnus Lodrick Stewart, and former University of Kansas player Rodrick Stewart. He averaged 17.9 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals per game as a senior in 2002, and was named the AAA State player of the year in Washington. He led his team to a no. 7 national ranking in USA Today, and was one of the 100 finalists for the McDonald's High School All-America team.^{[citation needed]} Rainier Beach retired Robinson's No. 2 jersey on September 10, 2010.^[6]

Also in 2002 he was named the AAA player of the year for football where he totaled over 1,200 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving while scoring 21 touchdowns. And he was a SuperPrep All-American in 2001 and was ranked as the nation's 17th-best player at the athlete position. He was also a standout in track and field, setting a Washington state record of 13.85 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. He also placed second in the 110-meter hurdles and second in the long jump at the 2002 state track meet.^{[citation needed]}

College

Robinson had a successful collegiate career in which he led the Washington Huskies to two straight NCAA basketball tournament appearances, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance during his junior year^{[citation needed]}. At the end of that season he was named a third-team Associated Press and National Association of Basketball Coaches All-American^{[citation needed]}.

Robinson also played football at the University of Washington. Robinson's college football career is most remembered for his interception in the final minutes of regulation of the 2002 Apple Cup against the Washington State Cougars, who were at the time ranked #3 in the AP poll. With minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Cougars leading by 3 points, Robinson intercepted a pass thrown by Matt Kegel intended for 6'6" Mike Bush. The Huskies scored a field goal on the ensuing possession and won the game in triple overtime.^[7]

NBA career

New York Knicks

2005–06

Robinson was the 21st selection of the 2005 NBA Draft, chosen by the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the New York Knicks with Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas and the draft rights to second-round pick (54th overall) Dijon Thompson^{[citation needed]}.

Robinson with the New York Knicks

Robinson played in 72 games his rookie year, starting 26 of them, while averaging 9.3 points and 2.0 assists per game. He had a major breakout performance against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden where he scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Of his 17 points, three came on a game-winning three-pointer at the overtime buzzer over his boyhood idol, Allen Iverson. During the All-Star weekend, Robinson won the 2006 Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest, edging Andre Iguodala 141–140 in an unprecedented overtime, although he took 14 attempts to make his final dunk. In his most memorable dunk of the night, he jumped over 1986 champion Spud Webb, and received a perfect 50-point score for the dunk.^[8] During the 2005–06 season, Robinson was reportedly involved in physical altercations between teammates Jerome James and Malik Rose in separate incidents. He was at one point considered by Knicks' coach Larry Brown to be demoted to the NBA Development League. He was instead placed on the Inactive List for 10 games between February 24 and March 11.^[9]

2006–07

On December 16, 2006, Robinson was one of the primary participants in the brawl between the Denver Nuggets and the Knicks. His fight with Nuggets guard J. R. Smith landed in the seats, and he was suspended for 10 games as a result.^[10]

Robinson competed in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest to defend his 2006 title, and came in second place after Gerald Green. In the second round, Green's Boston Celtics teammate Paul Pierce brought out a cardboard cut-out of Robinson to dunk over, but Robinson came out and stood in its place instead, and Green jumped over him to complete the dunk.^[11]

2008–09

On February 14, 2009, Robinson won the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Competition. During the first round he completed two dunks, the second of which included jumping off Knicks teammate Wilson Chandler, who was on the floor. He finished second in the first round with a score of 87. After the first round, he went into the locker room and changed into a green Knicks jersey with green shorts and green shoes representing Kryptonite (which he called "KryptoNATE"), countering competitor Dwight Howard's Superman theme. In the final round, Robinson, who is only 5 feet 9, jumped over Dwight Howard (6 feet 11 inches) for the slam. Robinson went on to win his second Slam Dunk title with 52% of the fan vote.^[12]

Robinson enjoyed his best season in 2008–2009, averaging 17.2 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and almost 30 minutes per game. On February 23, 2009, Robinson scored 41 points and also had 8 rebounds.

On August 12, 2009, Robinson reported on his Twitter page that he would change his number from number 4 to number 2 for the 2009–10 season. On September 25, 2009, Robinson re-signed with the New York Knicks to a one-year deal.

2009–10

After a series of disagreements, Mike D'Antoni removed Robinson from the Knicks' rotation for 14 games beginning on December 1, 2009. Robinson's agent, Aaron Goodwin, urged the Knicks to deal his client, or perhaps work out a buy-out with the team. After remaining on the bench for nearly a month, Robinson made his return on January 1, 2010, against the Atlanta Hawks and scored 41 points, off the bench, in the Knicks' victory.

On February 13, 2010, Robinson won the 2010 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the first three-time Slam Dunk champion.^[13]

Boston Celtics

2010

On February 18, 2010, Robinson was traded to the Boston Celtics along with Marcus Landry in exchange for Eddie House, Bill Walker, and J. R. Giddens.^[14] Robinson played in 26 games with the Celtics averaging 6.5 points per game in 14.7 minutes per game.

Despite his limited playing time during the playoffs with the Boston Celtics, Robinson made key contributions in the series clinching Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals where he scored all of his 13 points in the second quarter.

Oklahoma City Thunder

2011

On February 24, 2011, Robinson was traded along with Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstić.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	New York	72	26	21.4	.407	.397	.752	2.3	2.0	.8	.0	9.3
2006–07	New York	64	5	21.2	.434	.390	.777	2.4	1.4	.8	.1	10.1
2007–08	New York	72	17	26.2	.423	.332	.786	3.1	2.9	.8	.0	12.7
2008–09	New York	74	11	29.9	.437	.325	.841	3.9	4.1	1.3	.1	17.2
2009–10	New York	30	2	24.4	.452	.375	.778	2.4	3.7	.9	.2	13.2
2009–10	Boston	26	0	14.7	.401	.414	.615	1.5	2.0	.8	.0	6.5
2010–11	Boston	55	11	17.9	.404	.328	.825	1.6	1.9	.5	.1	7.1
2010–11	Oklahoma City	4	0	7.5	.267	.250	.750	.3	1.5	.0	.0	3.3
Career		397	72	23.0	.425	.353	.793	2.6	2.6	.9	.1	11.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010	Boston	17	0	7.5	.375	.333	.800	.8	1.1	.4	.1	4.2
2011	Oklahoma City	3	0	4.0	.286	.333	1.000	.0	.3	.0	.0	2.7
Career		20	0	7.0	.366	.333	.824	.7	.9	.3	.0	4.0

Personal

Robinson's father, Jacque Robinson, played football for the Huskies and earned MVP honors in both the 1982 Rose Bowl and 1985 Orange Bowl. His mother, Renee Busch, operates a beauty salon in Seattle.^[15] Robinson's great-great-grandfather on his maternal side was Filipino.^[16][17]

See also

• List of shortest players in National Basketball Association history

Notes

1. ^ "Players: Nate Robinson". NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. 2010. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nate_robinson/index.html. Retrieved July 23, 2010. 
2. ^ Wynn, Luke (June 24, 2005). "Draft Overrated/Underrated". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/luke_winn/06/24/overrated.underrated/1.html. Retrieved December 24, 2008. 
3. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Nate Robinson Info Page". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nate_robinson/index.html. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
5. ^ Hawkins, Stephen (February 13, 2010). "Nate Robinson Wins NBA Slam Dunk Contest". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/13/nate-robinson-wins-nba-sl_n_461658.html. Retrieved October 25, 2010. 
6. ^ Kelley, Mason (2010-09-10). "Nate Robinson's number retired at Rainier Beach High School". Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2012865169_nate11.html. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
7. ^ Winner, Andrew (November 25, 2002). "Huskies complete Apple Cup-set". The Daily of the University of Washington. http://dailyuw.com/2002/11/25/huskies-complete-apple-cup-set/. Retrieved March 31, 2009. 
8. ^ Wong, Matt (February 21, 2006). "Robinson wins dunkfest amid controversy". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2006/news/story?id=2335818. Retrieved December 24, 2008. 
9. ^ Isola, Frank (April 6, 2006). "Nate nearly shut down". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/405782p-343605c.html. Retrieved December 24, 2008. 
10. ^ "Suspensions total 47 games from Knicks-Nuggets fight". ESPN.com. December 20, 2006. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2701228. Retrieved December 24, 2008. 
11. ^ Berman, Marc (February 18, 2007). "Nate Sees Green". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/02182007/sports/nate_sees_green_sports_marc_berman.htm. Retrieved December 24, 2008. 
12. ^ "Robinson, Cook, Rose shine in Phoenix". Associated Press. ESPN.com. February 15, 2009. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar2009/news/story?id=3908104. Retrieved February 15, 2009. 
13. ^ High-flying Nate becomes first three-time Slam Dunk champ
14. ^ "Celtics acquire Nate Robinson, Marcus Landry from Knicks". NBA.com. February 18, 2010. http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press_release/press021810-celtics-acquire-robinson.html. 
15. ^ "Nate Robinson Bio Page". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nate_robinson/bio.html. Retrieved October 28, 2010. "Father Jacque Robinson played tailback at Washington from 1981–84 and amassed 2,300 career yards to rank eighth on all-time Huskies list." 
16. ^ "New York Knicks’ Nate Robinson: Pinoy Slam Dunk Champ". Asian Journal. January 17, 2010. http://www.asianjournal.com/galing-pinoy/59-galing-pinoy/4256-new-york-knicks-nate-robinson-pinoy-slam-dunk-champ-.html. Retrieved October 28, 2010. "Bartholomew, who wrote a profile about Robinson for the Seattle Weekly, interviewed Robinson’s mother Renee Busch and she confirmed that her great grand father was full Filipino." 
17. ^ Narcisco, Gerald (January 18, 2010). "The Thrilla In Manila: Nate Robinson Talks About His Filipino Roots". Dime. http://dimemag.com/2010/01/nate-robinson/. Retrieved October 28, 2010. "'I’m like 1/8th, on my momma’s side. But that’s like digging down the line though. It’s like great, great grandparent.'" 

External links

• Nate Robinson at NBA.com
• Nate Robinson at Basketball-Reference.com
• Nate Robinson's Blog of his rookie NBA season
• Nate Robinson Bio

Persondata
Name	Robinson, Nate
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player
Date of birth	May 31, 1984
Place of birth	Seattle, Washington
Date of death
Place of death