Nate Robinson

Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player.

In his most memorable dunk of the night, he jumped over 1986 champion Spud Webb, and received a perfect 50-point score for the dunk.

Robinson spent his first 3 years of high school at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle before moving to Union City, California where he played for James Logan High School in 2000–01.

He then returned to Rainier Beach for his senior season in 2001–02.

At Rainier Beach, he excelled in basketball, football and track.

He led his basketball team to a 2–2 record and won the AAA state championship as a senior with teammates Terrence Williams and twins, Rodrick and Lodrick Stewart.

He averaged 17.9 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals per game in 2001–02, and was named the AAA State player of the year in Washington.

Rainier Beach also received a No. 7 national ranking from USA Today.

On September 10, 2001, Rainier Beach retired Robinson's No. 2 jersey.

Robinson was originally enrolled at Washington on a football scholarship, but decided to concentrate on basketball beginning with his sophomore year.

He played all 13 football games in 2002 and started the final six games as a cornerback on the Husky football squad, including the Sun Bowl.

He intercepted two passes and made 34 tackles.

In his freshman basketball season at Washington in 2002–03, Robinson was named to the CollegeInsider.com's 20-player national All-Freshmen Team, as well as earning All-Pac-10 Freshman Team honors.

Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft.

The 5 ft point guard played in the NBA for the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, and New Orleans Pelicans.

In April 2005, Robinson declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

Robinson was selected with the 21st overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2005 NBA draft.

He was later traded to the New York Knicks on draft night along with Quentin Richardson in exchange for Kurt Thomas and the draft rights to Dijon Thompson.

Robinson played in 72 games his rookie year, starting 26 of them, while averaging 9.3 points and 2.0 assists per game.

He had a major breakout performance against the Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden where he scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

Of his 17 points, three came on a game-winning three-pointer at the overtime buzzer.

During the 2005–06 season, Robinson was reportedly involved in physical altercations between teammates Jerome James and Malik Rose in separate incidents.

He was at one point considered by Knicks' coach Larry Brown to be demoted to the NBA Development League.

He was instead placed on the Inactive List for 10 games between February 24 and March 11.

During the All-Star weekend, Robinson won the 2006 Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest, edging Andre Iguodala 141–140 in overtime, although he took 14 attempts to make his final dunk.

On November 11, 2006, Robinson blocked the 7'6" Yao Ming during the Knicks' 97-90 loss to the Houston Rockets. It became one of his career highlights owing to the unlikeliness of the event and Robinson's own athletic abilities.

On December 16, 2006, Robinson was one of the primary participants in the brawl between the Denver Nuggets and the Knicks.

His fight with Nuggets guard J. R. Smith landed in the seats, and he was suspended for 10 games as a result.

Robinson competed in the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest to defend his 2006 title, and came in second place after Gerald Green.

In the second round, Green's Boston Celtics teammate Paul Pierce brought out a cardboard cut-out of Robinson to dunk over, but Robinson came out and stood in its place instead, and Green jumped over him to complete the dunk.

In the 2007–08 season, Robinson averaged 12.7 points per game and was the team's leading scorer in 10 games.

On March 8, 2008, he scored a career-high 45 points in a 114–120 overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

On February 14, 2009, Robinson won the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk Competition.

During the first round he completed two dunks, the second of which included jumping off Knicks teammate Wilson Chandler, who was on the floor.

He finished second in the first round with a score of 87.

After the first round, he went into the locker room and changed into a green Knicks jersey with green shorts and green shoes representing Kryptonite (which he called "KryptoNATE"), countering competitor Dwight Howard's Superman theme.

Robinson became the NBA's first three-time slam dunk champion in 2010.

In his sophomore season, Robinson was named to the All-Pac-10 first team after he led the team and ranked 13th among Pac-10 scorers with 13.2 points per game.

In his junior season, Robinson was named to the NABC All-NCAA District 14 first team, NABC All-America third team, Pac-10 All-Tournament team and All-Pac-10 first team after leading Washington to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament

He led the team in scoring average with 13.0 points per game, a figure that ranked 17th among Pac-10 players; also his 300 points tied for fourth among all-time UW freshmen.