Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry among Seattle鈥檚 top 10 NBA players
6. Nate Robinson, G, Rainier Beach
While Brooks was a small player in his own right, Robinson stands even shorter at just 5-foot-9. However, he too went on to have a memorable NBA career. Robinson played one season of high school basketball at James Logan in California, but the majority of his prep career came in Seattle at Rainier Beach where he won a state championship in 2002. Robinson went on to join the Washington Huskies for his college career where he spent three seasons, averaging 13 points his freshman and sophomore years, and improving to 16.4 points per contest as a senior while shooting over 46% from the field. The New York Knicks took a chance on Robinson鈥檚 elite upside and athleticism with the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. While he didn鈥檛 make a huge impact in the stat sheet as a rookie, Robinson鈥檚 name became known across the league as he won the first of three career slam dunk contest titles.聽
(2009) Nine years ago today, 5'9" Nate Robinson jumped over 6'11" Dwight Howard in the NBA Dunk Contest! 馃敟
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_)
Robinson proved his athleticism further with a block against 7-foot-6 Yao Ming the next season.
When 5鈥� 9鈥� Nate Robinson blocked 7鈥� 6鈥� Yao Ming 馃槺
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA)
In his fourth year in the league in 2008-09, Robinson had a career year, averaging 17.2 points and 4.1 assists per game. However, his time in New York would end soon after, as Robinson was dealt to Boston, and then Oklahoma City the following season. From there, the point guard bounced around to Golden State, Chicago and Denver, and maintained a profile as a productive playmaker off the bench until finishing his pro career with the Clippers and Pelicans.