Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 16 – David Robinson
On NBA 50 at 50 List
Career: 1989 – 2003
Achievements: Two-time champion; 1995 MVP; All-NBA (10x); All-Star (10x); All-Defense (8x); Defensive Player of the Year; led the league one-time each in points, rebounds and blocks; seventh in career blocks
No modern player has seen the start to their career delayed as long as David Robinson. Players like Kevin Garnett and LeBron James came into the league straight out of high school. Robinson spent four years in college and then spent two years fulfilling his military service with the U.S. Navy. “The Admiral” did not make his NBA debut until he was 24 years old.
Then it was off to the races up the historic ranks, as Robinson was a monster from the start. He is one of the league’s best shot-blockers all-time, ranking fourth in blocks per game and seventh in career blocks. When he and Tim Duncan teamed up on the Spurs late in Robinson’s career, the results were all-time defenses and two titles.
Robinson was never able to break through a competitive Western Conference to reach the NBA Finals without Duncan, but he kept the Spurs in the mix for years without a true co-star. Robinson memorably topped O’Neal in a neck-and-neck scoring title race where he put up 71 points on the final night, a Spurs franchise record, to just inch out O’Neal.