David Robinson is a retired professional basketball player who is colloquially known as ‘The Admiral’ thanks to his prior service to the United States Navy.

David Maurice Robinson was born on August 6, 1965 in Key West, Florida. Unlike most professional basketball players, Robinson did not generate significant interest from college basketball coaches during his high school career; despite winning all-area and all-district honors. Robinson went on to study at the United States Naval Academy.

Robinson’s admission to the Academy was quite surprising as he was well over the maximum height limit, and during the course of his time at the Academy, Robinson grew over 7 feet tall. Robinson considered leaving the Academy due to his height, stating that it would hurt his chances of being called up for duty, thus, he enrolled in the Civil Engineer Corps instead. Robinson’s basketball career at the Academy was exceptional; he is considered to be the all-time best basketball player of the Academy, and by his senior year, he had already won the Naismith and Wooden Awards, which are considered to be the two most prestigious college basketball awards.

Robinson was drafted into the NBA in 1989, and he soon played for the San Antonio Spurs in the 1989/90 season.  At that time, the Spurs were under pressure to perform after a horrible 21-61 record, however, the introduction of David Robinson helped the Spurs make a remarkable comeback and improve their record to 56-26. Robinson’s role in the comeback led to him being voted as the Rookie of the Year for the 1989/90 season. The Spurs then went on to make the NBA Playoffs for seven straight seasons in a row. By 1997, Robinson had won an MVP award (Most Valuable Player) in 1995, and was named one of the Fifty Greatest NBA Players in History in 1996. However, he hurt his back in 1997 pre-season games, and also broke his foot in a game against the Miami Heat, after which Robinson had to miss most of the 1997/98 season. Even so, the Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery which led to them