Editing David Robinson (section)

==== 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>