David Robinson
David Robinson is often regarded as one of the greatest centers to ever play the game of basketball. He was born on August 6, 1965 to Ambrose and Freda Robinson. As a student he excelled in all of his classes, and sports except basketball. By his senior year in high school he stood an incredible 6 feet, 7 inches tall, but had never played organized basketball. However, the basketball coach at his high school noticed Robinson and added him to the team without ever testing him. Robinson soon earned all-area and all-district honors, but not the attention of any college basketball coaches. But this did not matter to him, as basketball was not his first priority. Getting an education and becoming a student in the United States Naval Academy were his main concerns. After scoring a 1320 on the SAT, his goal of joining the Naval Academy was soon accomplished (Lewis, 16).
David Robinson majored in mathematics and excelled in all of his classes at the United States Naval Academy. He was an outstanding all-around athlete and chess player. He was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate fraternity for African-American men. He soon chose to try out for the United States Naval Academy basketball team. By the time he played his first collegiate basketball game, he had grown to 6 ft 9 in, and over the course of his college career he grew to 7 ft 1 in. In David Robinson’s last two years, he was a consensus All-American and won college basketball’s two most prestigious player awards, the Naismith and Wooden Awards (Lewis, 30). By the time he left the academy he was viewed by most as the best basketball player in U.S. Naval Academy history! He holds the record of most blocks in a single season in college basketba...
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...l athlete (Basketball.com).
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to charity, in March 2003, the NBA renamed its award for outstanding charitable efforts in honor of Robinson. Winners of the NBA's Community Assist Award receive the David Robinson Plaque, with the inscription "Following the standard set by NBA Legend David Robinson who improved the community piece by piece." The award is given out monthly by the league to recognize players for their charitable efforts (NBA.com).
Works Cited
Lewis, Gregg, and Deborah Lewis. David Robinson. New York: ZonderKidz, 2002. 4-107.
"David Robinson." NBA.Com. 2003. National Basketball Association. Apr. 2008 .
"Men's College Basketball Almanac." Basketball.Com. 2002. NBA. Apr. 2008 .
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Robinson began playing baseball professionally after being discharged from the army. He started playing in the Negro Leagues, because at this time the sport was segregated and African Ame...
Jackie Robinson overcame many struggles in life such as being included in the civil rights movement, facing discrimination, and he achieved being the first black man in major league baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia on Hadley Ferry Road. It is a blue-collar town of about 10,000 people. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even though he achieved this major goal he still had trouble getting there. He and his siblings were raised by his single mother. Jackie attended Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College. He was a great athlete and played many sports. He played football, basketball, track, and of course baseball. He left school in 1941, worked as an athletic director and played semiprofessional football for the Honolulu Bears before being drafted to the Army in 1942. While he was in the army he became close friends with Joe Louis. The heavyweight used his popularity to protest about the delayed entry of black soldiers. Two years later he got the honor to be second lieutenant in 1943. After an accident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, military police arrested Robinson. A duty officer requested this and then later he requested that Jackie should be court martialed. Since this happened Jackie was not allowed to be deployed overseas to the World War II. He never saw combat during the war. Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.
Although many youngsters fail in the NBA, there are a few high school players who have had, or do have a successful career in the NBA. Some of these are, Moses Malone, Kobe Bryant, Tracey McGrady, and this year’s most valu...
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Jackie Robinson’s dedication was a crucial instrumentality to achieve his goals in life, not just to make it into the MLB league. During World War II, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the U.S army in 1942. Jackie Robinson, and many other African American soldiers applied to Officers’ Candidate School (OCS), but all were rejected (Jackie Robinson, Facing Racism in the Army). With the help of Joe Louis, famous heavyweight champion, and Jackie Rob...
Robinson, Mark D. Ph. D. “Every Black Kid Should Strive to Be a Professional Athlete”.
Wiggins, David Kenneth, and Patrick B. Miller. 2003. The unlevel playing field: a documentary history of the African American experience in sport. Urbana: University of Illinois Press
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Jesse Moncell Bethel was born in New York City, New York on July 8, 1922. He was born to Jesse M. Bethel and Ethel Williams. His father left the home when he was only six months old and his mother died when he was only three and a half years old. Being an orphan now, he was raised by his grandmother in Arkansas. He then moved to Oklahoma where his family sharecropped cotton and cornfields. Bethel attended elementary school while in Oklahoma and later graduated from Booker Washington High School there too. Bethel attended Tillotson College in Austin, Texas. He graduated there with a Bachelors of Science degree in chemistry. He later attended graduate school in 1944 at the University of California Berkley.
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