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Ira
Posts: 24693
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Joined: 8/14/2001
Member: #91
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I haven't seen this posted here yet. If it has been, it's ok to delete. Basically, Nate seems to have taken this matter very seriously and promises to do better in the future.
Here's the links - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/sports/basketball/20nate.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin
And here's the text:
December 20, 2006
A Chagrined Robinson Promises He’ll Change
By HOWARD BECK
GREENBURGH, N.Y., Dec. 19 — In 18 months in the N.B.A., Nate Robinson has been a showboat, a slam-dunk champion, a crowd-pleaser, a clutch shooter, a curiosity and an occasional nuisance.
By late Saturday night, he had earned another identity. The polite term would be provocateur. The word used most often on talk radio has been punk.
Robinson, a second-year guard for the Knicks, earned the label — whatever it is — when he puffed out his chest, pumped his arms and challenged Denver’s J. R. Smith, helping incite a melee Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Robinson did not appear to land any punches. But he and Smith wrestled and tumbled into the first row of seats along the baseline, potentially endangering fans. Robinson was also among the players cited by the N.B.A. commissioner for escalating tensions throughout the incident.
After the game, Robinson was as verbally obstinate as he had been physically brash. By Tuesday, having begun a 10-game suspension, he vowed to work toward “becoming a better person.”
He described the out-of-control Robinson that appears in the game film as someone else, a dangerous alter ego akin to the Incredible Hulk. “I know pretty much not to let that other guy come out no more,” he said. “It’s done, it’s a wrap.”
Had he not reached this conclusion on his own, the 22-year-old Robinson would have had ample assistance. He heard from several family members after the fight, including his father, Jacque, a former N.F.L. running back, and his grandmother.
“She just says learn from it, because I’m not that type of person to go out and act the way I did,” he said. “My mom, my dad, they raised me better than that. I’m definitely sorry for how I acted.”
Robinson apologized to the Knicks, the league, the Nuggets, the fans and “all the kids, because that’s not who Nate Robinson is.”
Yet the display of overdeveloped bravado was not at all surprising to teammates or to coaches. Packed into Robinson’s small frame (listed at 5 feet 9 inches, he is closer to 5-7) is an outsized personality that ranges from humorous to irritating. Robinson talks loudly, plays practical jokes on teammates and generally forces himself into conversations.
The constant yapping and braying can become an annoyance. In separate incidents last season, Robinson tussled with Jerome James and Malik Rose. James stands 7-1 and 300 pounds. But then, Robinson has never let his size hold him back.
In high school, he was a star running back and cornerback. At the University of Washington, he gave up a chance to play football to focus on basketball. He is nearly always the smallest person in the room, and he tends to overcompensate with a large swagger.
“He’s had a chip on his shoulder ever since he was smaller,” said Jamal Crawford, Robinson’s teammate in high school and with the Knicks. “It’s not towards anybody, he just wants to be better than everybody.”
The competitiveness extends to all areas, Crawford said. “We can play pool, and if you beat him, he won’t let you leave until he ends up beating you more than you beat him.”
Yet Crawford, like other teammates, defends Robinson like a brother — albeit the bratty kid brother who is always getting into your stuff.
Crawford added: “Nate’s a great kid. He’s very emotional, he’s all about his teammates.”
Emotional is a frequent description for Robinson. Immature is another. On the court, he often opts for entertainment value over fundamentals, a habit that made Larry Brown, the previous Knicks coach, chafe.
In February, Robinson won the slam-dunk competition during All-Star weekend — but only after stubbornly taking 14 attempts to complete his final dunk. He passed to himself off the backboard.
Last month in Cleveland, Robinson stunned teammates when he tried a similar circus move during a real game. Robinson was on a breakaway and could have scored an uncontested layup. Instead, he tried a bounce pass to himself for a dunk and was called for traveling.
“He’s just a very hyper kid,” the Knicks veteran Steve Francis said Monday. “Hopefully, as he gets older and he gets mature in this league, he’ll learn how to be not only a good player but also a good person and be professional about it.”
Teammates generally defended Robinson’s actions Saturday, saying that he was looking out for his teammate Mardy Collins, whose flagrant foul on Smith started the fracas. Smith jumped to his feet and went jaw to jaw with Collins. For a moment, things were tense but not violent.
“That’s where it’s going to stop in the future,” Commissioner David Stern said Monday.
But then Robinson went after Smith and chaos ensued, which is why Stern dealt Robinson such a lengthy suspension.
Coach Isiah Thomas predicted that the suspension would “have a positive impact” on Robinson, “because someone like him, who has had to go through so much adversity and being so small, to get to this level, he’s definitely capable of adapting and changing.”
The incident seemed to have no effect on Robinson’s popularity when he sponsored a holiday party for 200 children at the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester in Tarrytown on Tuesday night.
The children roared when Robinson entered the gym and quickly surrounded him. He began to offer an apology but was nearly drowned out by cheers as soon as he mentioned “the big fight.”
“Fighting is not cool,” Robinson told the crowd, before posing for photographs with the kids. “I want you guys to know it’s not cool.”
Robinson is averaging 9.9 points in 20.5 minutes a game. The Knicks will miss his speed and his energy and maybe even his braggadocio. Robinson will miss his one chance to play in his hometown, Seattle; the Knicks are there Jan. 5, in what will be the final game of his sentence.
“That’s kind of tough for me,” Robinson said.
As for the indelible impression of him as a punk, an impression reinforced with every television replay, Robinson said he paid it no mind.
“That’s not who I am,” he said. “That’s not the person I’m trying to influence kids to go out and be, because me, I’m fun, I’m happy all the time, I’m smiling. I work hard, I play hard and I’m just protecting my family.”
Michael S. Schmidt contributed reporting.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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12/20/2006 2:07 PM
