New York Knicks’ Nate Robinson: Pinoy Slam Dunk Champ
Sunday, 17 January 2010 19:29 AJPress
YES, a Pinoy has won a basketball slam dunk title.It may be hard for anyone to believe but a current player with Filipino descent has won a National Basketball Association Slam Dunk title. Twice.
Meet Nate Robinson, a 5’9" (with shoes) point guard for the New York Knicks that has an amazing 44" vertical leap.
He’s also one-eighth Filipino although you’d be hard pressed to find it in his features.
According to basketball writer Rafe Bartholomew as quoted by Philstar, Robinson’s Pinoy roots are from his mother’s side.
"Pinoy daw ang lolo niya," Bartholomew told Philstar.
Bartholomew, who wrote a profile about Robinson for the Seattle Weekly, interviewed Robinson’s mother Renee Busch and she confirmed that her great grand father was full Filipino.
The 25-year-old Robinson won two NBA Slam Dunk titles. One title came during the NBA All-Star festivities in his rookie year in 2005-2006, he beat out Philadelphia 76ers star Andre Igoudala in the Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest and another in 2008, when he donned green Knicks attire and dubbed himself "KryptoNate" to defeat "Superman" 6’ 11" power forward/ center Dwight Howard.
When word spread earlier this year that an NBA player especially one with the caliber of Robinson is part Filipino have some Pinoy basketball fans giddy.
The reason: Robinson could play for the Philippine National Basketball Team.
Philstar’s Joaquin Henson wrote, "Technically, Robinson could be considered a Fil-Am or more like an Am-Fil. If he is issued a Filipino passport on that basis as a dual citizen, then the 5’ 9" human dynamo from Seattle qualifies to play for Gilas – not as a naturalized import but as a Filipino like Fil-Ams Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz.
Of course, Robinson has to agree to apply for a Filipino passport and play for [Rajko Toroman’s Smart] Gilas [National Team]."
And that’s the kicker.
No one is quite sure if Robinson knows of his Filipino roots or care to know. His mother, Busch, seems very fond of her Filipino great grandfather. It’s easy to speculate that if Robinson’s family has lived in the Seattle, Washington area for generations, it makes sense his grandfather may have been part of the early Filipino migrant workers who left the Philippines in the early 1900’s for better paying jobs and opportunities in the US.
RP National Team
It’s a possibility, albeit a slight one.
But it’s highly unlikely.
The Philippine National Basketball team would love to have a player the caliber of Robinson. Robinson style fits the profile of the current national team.
The Philippine National team hasn’t made the Olympics in more than 36 years. The last time the Philippines had a basketball team in the Olympics was in 1972, the same year Ferdinand Marcos implemented Martial Law. The team finished in 13th place.
Robinson is a quick, gritty point guard known for his relentlessness to drive toward the basket and showboating. He plays much bigger than his size.
The former Washington Huskie football and basketball player was the 21st pick chosen in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft. He joins Raymond Townsend, as the only other player with Filipino descent to be drafted in the first round of an NBA draft.
Sports Illustrated described him as "a sparkplug guard who’s built like a defensive back."
After being drafted by the Phoenix Suns, he was immediately traded to the New York Knicks.
Last year, Robinson had a breakout season averaging more than 17 points per game and four assists.
This year, Robinson couldn’t continue that momentum. His coach, Mark D’Antoni placed him in the doghouse early in the season and Robinson is now just getting some meaningful playing time.
Filipinos can only hope. Qualifying tournaments for the 2012 Olympic summer games are right around the corner.
And Robinson, could compliment the current Philippine National squad. (AJPress)
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( Published January 16, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A10 )
