Editing David Robinson (section)

===San Antonio Spurs (1989–2003)===
==== Rookie of the Year, DPOY award and scoring title (1989–1994)====
Since he had not signed a contract, NBA regulations stated that Robinson could have reentered the draft after his naval service.<ref name="montville19960429">{{cite magazine |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1996/04/29/trials-of-david-san-antonio-spurs-center-and-born-again-christian-david-robinson-is-trying-to-lead-his-team-to-an-nba-title-and-remain-pure-in-a-world-beset-by-the-seven-deadly-sins |title=Trials Of David San Antonio Spurs Center And Born Again Christian David Robinson Is Trying To Lead His Team To An NBA Title And Remain Pure In A World Beset By The Seven Deadly Sins |magazine=Sports Illustrated |date=April 29, 1996 |access-date=May 27, 2023 |last=Montville |first=Leigh |archive-date=May 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527092732/https://vault.si.com/vault/1996/04/29/trials-of-david-san-antonio-spurs-center-and-born-again-christian-david-robinson-is-trying-to-lead-his-team-to-an-nba-title-and-remain-pure-in-a-world-beset-by-the-seven-deadly-sins |url-status=live }}</ref> Although there was speculation that he might choose not to sign with the Spurs,<ref>{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Anderson |title=Sports of the Times; The Robinson Plot Thickens |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/18/sports/sports-of-the-times-the-robinson-plot-thickens.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 18, 1987 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Orsborn |title=The Summer Our Ship Came In |work=San Antonio Express-News |date=May 20, 2007 }}</ref> Robinson agreed to move to San Antonio for the [[1989–90 NBA season|1989–90 season]], but the Spurs agreed to pay him as much as the average of the salaries of the two highest-paid players in the league each year, or release him to free agency.<ref name="montville19960429" />

The Spurs had spent the second half of the 1980s as an also-ran, bottoming out in [[1988–89 NBA season|1988–89 season]] with a 21–61 record,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/history/standings/19881989.html |title=1988–89 Standings |work=NBA.com |access-date=August 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025211204/http://www.nba.com/history/standings/19881989.html |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the worst in franchise history at the time. While it was widely thought that the Spurs would become respectable again once Robinson arrived, no one expected what happened in his rookie season. Robinson led the Spurs to the greatest single-season turnaround in NBA history at the time<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/david-robinson|title=Legends profile: David Robinson|website=NBA.com|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127195516/https://www.nba.com/history/legends/profiles/david-robinson|url-status=live}}</ref> (a record the Spurs themselves broke in [[1997–98 NBA season|1997–98 season]], after drafting [[Tim Duncan]], which was then broken by the [[Boston Celtics]] in the [[2007–08 NBA season]]). The Spurs leaped to a record of 56–26 for a remarkable 35 game improvement. They advanced to the second round of the [[Western Conference (NBA)|Western Conference]] [[1990 NBA Playoffs|playoffs]] where they lost in seven games to the eventual conference champion [[Portland Trail Blazers]]. Following the 1989–90 season, he was unanimously named the [[NBA Rookie of the Year Award|NBA Rookie of the Year]], and subsequently [[Sega]] produced a game featuring him entitled ''[[David Robinson's Supreme Court]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mobygames.com/game/david-robinsons-supreme-court|title=David Robinson's Supreme Court for Genesis (1992)|website=MobyGames|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129052245/https://www.mobygames.com/game/david-robinsons-supreme-court|url-status=live}}</ref> The Spurs made the playoffs seven more seasons in a row. In the [[1991–92 NBA season|1991–92 season]] Robinson led the league in blocks and was named the [[NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award|NBA Defensive Player of the Year]]. Robinson also made the [[United States men's national basketball team#1992 Olympics (Barcelona) – The Dream Team|1992 US Olympic Dream Team]] that won the gold medal in [[1992 Summer Olympics|Barcelona]]. During the [[1993–94 NBA season|1993–94 season]], he became locked in a duel for the NBA scoring title with [[Shaquille O'Neal]], scoring 71 points (breaking [[George Gervin]]'s single-game franchise record of 63) against the [[Los Angeles Clippers]] to win it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199404240LAC.html|title=San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers Box Score, April 24, 1994|website=Basketball-Reference.com|access-date=December 2, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025022135/https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199404240LAC.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In that season, Robinson averaged a career-high 29.8 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, career-high 4.8 assists per game and 3.3 blocks per game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robinda01.html|title=David Robinson Stats|website=Basketball-Reference.com|access-date=July 24, 2018|archive-date=April 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408143652/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robinda01.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====MVP title, playoff upsets and injury (1994–1998)====
Robinson went on to win the [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award|MVP]] trophy in 1995, and in 1996 he was named one of the [[50 Greatest Players in NBA History]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/players/50greatest.html |title=The NBA at 50 |work=NBA.com |access-date=August 4, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030210182924/http://www.nba.com/history/players/50greatest.html |archive-date=February 10, 2003}}</ref> Still, from 1991 to 1996, Robinson was thwarted in his quest to claim the one prize that had eluded him: an NBA title. During that span the Spurs were eliminated from the playoffs by the Warriors, Suns (twice), Jazz (twice), and Rockets. The loss against the Rockets was particularly painful for Robinson because it occurred in the Western Conference Finals with Robinson playing head-to-head against his chief rival, [[Hakeem Olajuwon]]. By his own admission, Robinson was outplayed by Olajuwon in the series, their only meetings in post-season play. In a [[Life (magazine)|''LIFE'' magazine]] story, he seemed perplexed. “Solve Hakeem?” said Robinson. “You don’t solve Hakeem.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/news/history-nba-legend-hakeem-olajuwon|title=Legends profile: Hakeem Olajuwon|work=NBA.com|date=September 13, 2021|access-date=July 13, 2022|archive-date=February 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211000724/https://www.nba.com/news/history-nba-legend-hakeem-olajuwon|url-status=live}}</ref>

Early in the 1996–97 season, Robinson's dreams of becoming a champion seemed to vanish when he hurt his back in the preseason. He finally returned in December, but six games later broke his foot in a home game against the Miami Heat,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/25/sports/spurs-robinson-breaks-his-foot.html |title=Spurs' Robinson Breaks His Foot |date=December 25, 1996 |work=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106071032/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/25/sports/spurs-robinson-breaks-his-foot.html |archive-date=November 6, 2020}}</ref> and ended up missing the rest of the regular season. As a result of the injury to Robinson and other key players (most notably [[Sean Elliott]], who missed more than half the season), the Spurs finished the season with a dismal 20–62 record. However, his injury proved to be a blessing in disguise. Despite having only the third-worst record in the league, the Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery—and with it, the first pick in the next year's NBA draft. They used that pick to select [[Tim Duncan]] out of [[Wake Forest University]], who was, after a few years, the final key to Robinson's quest for an NBA title.

==== Championship season (1998–1999) ====

The later years of Robinson's career were plagued by back ailments.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-06-08-0306080170-story.html|title='Admiral' Robinson isn't one to pull rank|first=Milton|last=Kent|website=baltimoresun.com|date=June 8, 2003|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129051551/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-06-08-0306080170-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/252629-honoring-david-robinson|title=Honoring David Robinson|first=Matthew|last=Mooney|website=Bleacher Report|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129052127/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/252629-honoring-david-robinson|url-status=live}}</ref>
Before the start of the [[1998–99 NBA season|1998–99 season]], the NBA owners and NBA commissioner [[David Stern]] [[1998–99 NBA lockout|locked out]] the NBA Players' Association to force negotiations on a new [[Collective Bargaining Agreement]]. This lockout lasted for 202 days, well into the regular NBA season, before an agreement was finally reached. After playing a truncated 50-game season, the Spurs finished with an NBA-best record of 37–13, giving them the home-court advantage throughout [[1999 NBA Playoffs|the playoffs]].

The Spurs blitzed through the first three rounds of the NBA playoffs, beating the [[Minnesota Timberwolves]], [[Los Angeles Lakers]], and [[Portland Trail Blazers]] by a combined record of 11–1 to reach the [[1999 NBA Finals|NBA Finals]] for the first time ever. In the Finals, the combination of Robinson in the post and second-year [[power forward (basketball)|power forward]] [[Tim Duncan]] proved overpowering, and the Spurs beat the [[New York Knicks]] in five games to become the first former [[American Basketball Association]] team to win an NBA title. Duncan was named Finals MVP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/history/season/19981999.html |title=Spurs Tower Over NBA |work=NBA.com |access-date=August 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106093310/http://www.nba.com/history/season/19981999.html |archive-date=January 6, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Robinson and Duncan were nicknamed [[Twin Towers (San Antonio Spurs)|"The Twin Towers"]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/top-moments/2003-spurs-championship-duncan-robinson|title=Top Moments: Twin Towers ride off to sunset with another title|website=NBA.com|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129050821/https://www.nba.com/history/top-moments/2003-spurs-championship-duncan-robinson|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hoopshype.com/2018/03/23/david-robinson-tim-duncan-is-probably-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me/|title=David Robinson: "Tim Duncan is probably the best thing that ever happened to me"|website=Hoopshype.com|date=March 23, 2018|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=June 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617113112/https://hoopshype.com/2018/03/23/david-robinson-tim-duncan-is-probably-the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:David Robinson spurs (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|right|Robinson with the Spurs in 2000]]

==== Twilight years and second championship (1999–2003) ====
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During the 1999–00 season, Robinson averaged 17.8 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks per game in 80 games. The Spurs made it to the playoffs as the fourth seed, but were defeated by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs despite Robinson's 23.5 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robinda01/gamelog-playoffs/ |title=David Robinson Playoffs Game Log |work=Basketball-Reference.com |publisher=[[Sports Reference]] |access-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713170743/https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/robinda01/gamelog-playoffs/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Robinson announced he would retire from basketball following the 2002–03 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nba.com/spurs/news/robinson_transcript_020524.html|title=Transcript of David Robinson Retirement Press Conference|website=San Antonio Spurs|date=May 24, 2002|author=Ben Hunt|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129052245/https://www.nba.com/spurs/news/robinson_transcript_020524.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

On June 15, 2003, in the finale of Robinson's career, the Spurs won another NBA title with an 88–77 victory over the [[New Jersey Nets]] in Game 6 of the [[2003 NBA Finals]]. During this game, Robinson scored 13 points, as well as getting 17 rebounds.  He and the year's regular season and NBA Finals MVP [[Tim Duncan]] shared ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine's 2003 [[Sportsman of the Year|Sportsmen of the Year]] award.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/basketball/nba/12/08/bc.bkn.spurshonored.ap/|title=Duncan, Robinson share SI sportsman award|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=December 8, 2003|access-date=July 13, 2022|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 11, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031211072534/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/basketball/nba/12/08/bc.bkn.spurshonored.ap/}}</ref>