Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
June 20, 2003, Washington Post

Integrity is Always in Style

A question keeps popping into my mind now that the San Antonio Spurs have won the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship: Why doesn't anybody wear a David Robinson jersey?

I see kids and adults wearing NBA replica jerseys all the time.

Seems like everybody has Michael Jordan clothing. Or Lakers gear with Shaq or Kobe's name on the back. This week, I saw a guy on the subway wearing an Allen Iverson jersey. And just wait and see how many kids will be wearing LeBron James shirts after the high school phenom is drafted No. 1.

So how come I never see David Robinson jerseys? Okay, maybe some kids wear No. 50 in San Antonio. After all, Robinson has been the Spurs' star center for 14 seasons. And yeah, I know he's old (37) and about to retire. But I don't remember anybody around here wearing a David Robinson replica jersey even when he was one of the very best players in the NBA.

David Robinson was a great player. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1990 and the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1995. He averaged more than 21 points and 10 rebounds a game for 14 seasons.

Robinson once scored 71 points in a game. He was on two NBA championship and 10 all-star teams. In 1996, a panel of hoops experts named Robinson one of the 50 greatest players in the first 50 years of the NBA.

As great a player as Robinson was, he may be an even better person. At a time when many players were leaving school early, Robinson graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served for two years in the military. These days, lots of players leave their teams to follow the money and the chance for a championship ring. Well, Robinson stayed in San Antonio for his entire career and helped bring two titles to that city.

And while many pro sports stars seem to spend their money on Hummers, gold chains and their buddies, Robinson plunked down $9 million to start Carver Academy, a school for underprivileged kids in San Antonio.

David Robinson is everything any kid, make that anybody, should want to be: smart, talented and public-spirited.

So why doesn't anybody wear a David Robinson jersey?

Maybe we place more importance on whether the jersey looks cool than on the character of the person who wears it. Or maybe we think more about the player's tough, street-smart image than about the player's integrity. Maybe for all the talk about people wanting athletes to be "heroes" or "role models," we really like the players who get us excited and who look good dunking the ball or stroking the "J."

David Robinson was an all-star on and off the court for 14 years, and hardly anyone noticed enough to wear his jersey. Maybe that says more about all of us than it does about David Robinson.