Nate Robinson

High school career

Robinson spent his first two 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 28–1 record and won the AAA state championship as a senior with teammates Terrence Williams, Lodrick Stewart and Rodrick 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, 2010, Rainier Beach retired Robinson's No. 2 jersey.

College career

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 season at Washington, Robinson was named to the CollegeInsider.com's 20-player national All-Freshmen Team, as well as earning All-Pac-10 Freshman Team honors. 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.

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 a Sweet Sixteen appearance.

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

2005–06

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 over his boyhood idol, Allen Iverson. 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. 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.

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.

2006–07

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.

2007–08

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.

2008–09

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. In the final round, Robinson, who is only 5 feet 9, jumped over Dwight Howard (6 feet 11 inches) for the slam. Robinson went on to win his second Slam Dunk title with 52% of the fan vote.

Robinson enjoyed his best season in 2008–2009, averaging 17.2 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and almost 30 minutes per game. On February 23, 2009, Robinson scored 41 points and also had 8 rebounds.

On August 12, 2009, Robinson reported on his Twitter page that he would change his number from number 4 to number 2 for the 2009–10 season. On September 25, 2009, Robinson re-signed with the New York Knicks to a one-year deal.

2009–10

After a series of disagreements, Mike D'Antoni removed Robinson from the Knicks' rotation for 14 games beginning on December 1, 2009. Robinson's agent, Aaron Goodwin, urged the Knicks to deal his client, or perhaps work out a buy-out with the team. After remaining on the bench for nearly a month, Robinson made his return on January 1, 2010, against the Atlanta Hawks, and scored 41 points off the bench in the Knicks' victory.

On February 13, 2010, Robinson won the 2010 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest, becoming the first three-time Slam Dunk champion.

Boston Celtics (2010–2011)

On February 18, 2010, Robinson was traded to the Boston Celtics along with Marcus Landry in exchange for Eddie House, Bill Walker, and J. R. Giddens. Robinson played in 26 games with the Celtics averaging 6.5 points per game in 14.7 minutes per game.

Despite his limited playing time during the playoffs with the Celtics, Robinson made key contributions in the series clinching Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic, where he scored all of his 13 points in the second quarter.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2011)

On February 24, 2011, Robinson was traded, along with Kendrick Perkins, to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

On December 24, 2011, the Thunder waived Robinson.

Golden State Warriors (2012)

On January 4, 2012, Robinson signed with the Golden State Warriors. On January 10, 2012, with the absence of Stephen Curry, Robinson led the Warriors with 24 points in a 111–106 overtime victory over the Miami Heat. In the 2011–2012 season he averaged 11.2 points, 4.5 assists and 2 rebounds in 51 games played.

Chicago Bulls (2012–2013)

On July 31, 2012, Robinson signed a contract with the Chicago Bulls. On February 4, 2013, Robinson was announced as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, after averaging 17.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 2.5 steals in a 4-game span. Robinson averaged 13.1 points per game with the Bulls during the regular season. Due to injuries to Bulls point guards Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich, Robinson had 23 starts for the Bulls. On April 27, 2013, Robinson scored 34 points in Game 4 of a first round series against the Brooklyn Nets, including a personal 12-0 run over a period of 1:42 late in regulation, nearly erasing a 14-point deficit. The Bulls eventually won the game in triple overtime.

Denver Nuggets (2013–2015)

On July 26, 2013, Robinson signed a multi-year deal with the Denver Nuggets. He announced that he would wear number 10 to honor soccer player Lionel Messi; his preferred number 2 was already retired for Alex English.

On June 23, 2014, Robinson exercised the player option on his contract. On January 13, 2015, Robinson was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Jameer Nelson Two days later, he was waived by the Celtics before appearing in a game for them.

Los Angeles Clippers (2015)

On March 7, 2015, Robinson signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. On March 17, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Clippers. Due to injury, he was not retained by the Clippers following the expiration of his second 10-day contract.

New Orleans Pelicans (2015)

On October 16, 2015, Robinson signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans. On October 29, he was waived by the Pelicans after appearing in the team's first two games of the regular season.

Personal life

Robinson's father, Jacque Robinson, played American football for the Huskies and earned MVP honors in both the 1982 Rose Bowl and 1985 Orange Bowl. Robinson's father was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1987 and played one season with them before his NFL career ended. His mother, Renee Busch, operates a beauty salon in Seattle. He is also the cousin of Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tony Wroten. Robinson's great-great-grandfather on his maternal side was Filipino. Besides basketball, he is an avid car collector and owns a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Challenger and Hummer H2 as well as a blue Porsche Panamera and orange Cadillac CTS-V. His favorite car is the Pontiac Firebird which he also owns and is the same color as his Cadillac.

In 2014, he became an author of a book called Heart over Height which he began writing after he scored 34 points against Brooklyn Nets. In the book, he talks about his former football coach Rick Neuheisel who was fired. During the interview with the Seattle Times, he said that he favors Earl Thomas since he was the one who inspired him to write a book. He also said that he met LL Cool J and Martin Lawrence in person.

In 2014, Robinson opened up a Chicken & Waffles restaurant as co-owner in Rainier Beach in Seattle, the neighborhood in which he went to high school.