http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtsS2BYmzz4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVKWBrVqCzs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42NC1wQN-0A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKVqpXl3M18&feature=related - that's a 7 footer folks!

By the time he came over to the NBA after his commitment to the Navy was finished the Spurs had a very good roster in place in time for his rookie season. Problem was that a big part of that was Terry Cummings an undersized PF that was nearing the age of 30 and would pretty much begin his decline in Robinson's second season.

This left the Spurs with one of the leagues top players and a good supporting cast but to really win or contend for titles you've honestly got to have a legit #2 guy to carry a team in the playoffs.

This was largely the bane of Patrick Ewing in New York as well as even though they built some very good teams around him with depth the illusion of John Starks as a legit second option was always going to derail them against the best of the best as Sean Elliot would also do for the Spurs.

Then late in his career when they landed Tim Duncan due to an injury ruined season for David Robinson it is my opinion that Tim Duncan has received too much of the credit for that success they enjoyed together.

Not many young superstars have stepped into better spots then Tim Duncan was able to. He was given one of the best players in the league who willingly accepted being the #2 guy when he was still more then capable of sharing 1a and 1b status with him at the time.

Nothing against Tim Duncan either just as I don't hold the same advantage against Magic Johnson for being able to join a team with Kareem Abdul Jabbar but I don't think that Magic ever took due credit away from Kareem in the way that Duncan did from Robinson in the eyes of many.

Its not like Kareem is considered a failure or soft because he was unable to win a title in LA before Magic arrived and I don't think its fair for people to paint David Robinson in such a light as he was far more successful leading the Spurs before they got Duncan then Kareem was in leading the Lakers before Magic arrived.

He gets a rap for being soft, and everyone remembers the pounding he took from Hakeem in '95. Nobody seems to remember that the key to the Spurs walking all over the Lakers to get to the finals in '99 was David manning up Shaq one on one (btwn Robinson and Purdue, San Antonio was able to keep Timmy off of Shaq most of the series). Of course nobody shut down Shaq back then, but having a defender that allowed for single coverage made an enormous difference.

I think if there's any real criticism to be made of Robinson, it's less about his ability than his mindset. Maybe if he'd been the type to really get on his teammates and hold them accountable for each play like Magic, Jordan, Bird, Garnett, etc., the Spurs would have had a little more playoff success. When Kerr talks about his time in Chicago, the pressure Jordan laid on the team certainly sounds formative and important.

Maybe not though. Maybe those Spurs teams gave all they had. And anyway, who wants to malign a guy for being nice?