Jackie Robinson's name doomed him to perpetual second-fiddle status, forever overshadowed by his baseball counterpart, with whom he shares one important distinction - a championship ring.
A Los Angeles-area native, Robinson headed east to play his college basketball at UNLV. He would become a legendary player in UNLV history, and was inducted into the school's athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.
Selected by the Houston Rockets in the fourth round of the 1978 Draft, Robinson did not make the team but hooked on with the Sonics later in the season after playing in the Western Basketball Association with Las Vegas. After forward Wally Walker went out with a broken bone in his right hand, Robinson was signed to consecutive ten-day contracts and then for the remainder of the season. He played 12 games in Seattle, averaging 3.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.
Robinson later played seven games for the Detroit Pistons and three with the Chicago Bulls before his NBA career came to a close.
Robinson has returned to Las Vegas, where he has owned multiple minor-league basketball teams, including the Silver Bandits (IBL) and the Slam (ABA).
