With the NBA Draft in view, this issue’s spotlight is on a man who is considered one of the best to have ever played the game of basketball and one of the best to stand while in the spotlight. He was the first overall pick of the San Antonio Spurs, this year’s NBA champions, in the 1987 draft. His life is one that we should all admire and look to as a reference for how to live life God’s way.

Robinson was born in Key West, FL, but was moved around a lot as a child, due to his father’s career in the military. After high school, David decided to attend the Naval Academy and while he was there, he grew four inches, standing 7 ft. 1 in. upon his final year in college. The San Antonio Spurs grabbed him with the first overall pick, even though he would not be able to play for two years while serving in the Navy. In 1989, David took the floor for the Spurs and began a career in the NBA that led to him being called one of the greatest centers to have ever played the game.

Robinson would help to turn around the Spurs in his rookie year, helping him to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He would also be named to the 1992 Dream Team that won the gold medal in the Olympics. Robinson’s Spurs continued to make the NBA playoffs, yet they could not get over the hump and win the championship. He would win the NBA MVP Award and a scoring title, but by the year 1997, he was beginning to be known as one of the greatest players who could not win the big one. All of that would soon change.

After an injury cut short his 1997 season, the Spurs fell to the record of 20-62, the worst season they had since the arrival of the “Admiral�. It turned out to be a championship formula as they had the first pick in the draft and they chose Tim Duncan. Duncan and Robinson teamed up to create the “Twin Towers� and won the NBA title in 1999, the lockout season. In his final game in 2003, Robinson would win another NBA championship and leave the game on top, a fitting end to an amazing basketball career.

Throughout it all, the success and the setbacks, David remained faithful to God in all areas of his life. David was known throughout the NBA world and beyond for being a man of faith, a faith that he wore proudly. He was careful about the endorsement deals that he would sign and he always elevated his faith and his family above his fame and his game. He would start a ministry to help provide diapers and food for single mothers and for the families who were just struggling to get by. He also pledged to help kids go to college and donated money to help them as long as they stayed in school and stayed away from trouble. He looked to use his blessings to improve the lives of other people for the glory of the Lord, not for himself.

He once said that his motivation in life was to please God and in a quick take of his life, we can all assume that the Lord would be overly pleased with that which David has done. He is living the Scriptures out daily, not calling attention to himself, but rather pointing the direction for people to find a savior. Though he stands out over most men in our society due to his height, he is humble and realizes that it is the Lord who reigns over his life. He longs to see others fall in love with the Lord who has always loved him and has given him so much in life.

What we can learn from his life:

One of the biggest things that we can learn from the life of David Robinson is that all those who serve God fully will be a champion at the end of the day. David went through many years of disappointments in his quest for the NBA championship, but finally the Lord helped him to rise above all of the rest. We face the same struggles in our own lives as well. There are times that we feel like we will never get ahead in life and that each day is simply a struggle, trying to stay afloat one more day. The thing that we must remember is that, if we are serving the Lord with our lives and striving to make Him known, He will bring us through, and at the end of the day, we, too, will be champions in life.

So often, we look at things from the materialistic standpoint to see if we are successful. David Robinson would tell you that being successful is being able to stand for what you believe in no matter what it is that you are facing in life. So often, we do not stand and we allow opportunities to pass right before our eyes because we are too gripped with fear or embarrassment to stand for what is right. We sell out for the material possessions then want to call ourselves persons of faith. Leave it up to God and He will give you all that you need, a lesson that we learn from the life of the Admiral.

The final lesson that I learned in studying the life of David Robinson was that your motivation in life will decide what you do on a daily basis. He was known for talking about the Lord because God was the motivating factor in his life. What motivates you on a daily basis? Are you living for your own gain or to advance the kingdom of God in the areas that He has placed you in today? If our motivation is for the Lord, we will never run out of what we need and we will never have to worry about our lives simply being based on the adoration of people. I remember when Jesus is teaching about prayer and tells the people not to stand on the street corners and pray so that everyone else will see them, but instead go to the closet in their house and pray there so that only God will see. If your motivation is for the Lord, you will strive to work for Him, regardless of whether or not anyone else even notices that you have done a thing.

Robinson is one of the greatest, not just in the world of basketball, but also in the world of faith. He is one of the greatest because God is great and has worked in the life of the Admiral and David was open to the Lord working. If we long to be champions in life, we have to stand with the Lord daily and wait for the Lord to move. That next thing that happens that you perceive to be a setback may just be the Lord opening the door for your rise to the top.

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