50 Greatest Basketball Players Ever - 21 to 30 of the best NBA players ever

#23 David Robinson

NBA Hall of Fame Induction Weekend

The Admiral, as the former Navyman is fondly called by basketball fans across the world, is one of the greatest players to ever grace the NBA. Drafted #1 overall by the Spurs in 1987, Robinson served for 2 more years with the US Navy before entering the league as a 24-year-old and dominating from the moment he donned a Spurs jersey.

His rookie averages speak for themselves: 24.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals and a whopping 3.9 blocks per game. The Spurs improved by 35 wins, going from a 21-61 record in 88-89 to a 56-26 record the season after.

The reason Robinson was able to stuff the stat sheet so utterly is because he was a perimeter player in high school, joining the Naval Academy at a height of 6'8" before growing to his full adult height of 7'1". Pretty much like Anthony Davis today, this gave Robinson unique abilities as a big man because of his past as a 6'6" player in the final year of high school.

His ability to run the floor at his size made him a nightmare matchup for most opposition centers, while his stifling defense on other big men of his time made him one of the most complete players of any era.

Robinson was unable to taste championship champagne until his 10th professional season - after the end of the Bulls dynasty. The emergence of Tim Duncan as a dominant two-way player right off the bat allowed him to shoulder a reduced load.

The duo won 2 titles together before Robinson retired from the game for good in 2003. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with Michael Jordan, John Stockton and Jerry Sloan in 2009 - a first-ballot selection.