Robert Covington was not selected in the 2013 NBA Draft and spent his first season with the Rockets, mainly on assignment with their G League affiliate, Rio Grande Valley. After several seasons with Philadelphia, Covington was acquired by Minnesota in February of 2019 and was traded to the Rockets a year later. He appeared in 22 games with 21 starts for the Rockets in 2019-20 and for the season, he joined James Harden and Kawhi Leonard as the only players to have averaged at least 12.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.50 spg, and 2.0 3FGM. Covington, who was NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2017-18, also joined Andre Drummond and Jonathan Isaac as the only players to have averaged at least 1.50 spg and 1.00 bpg in 2019-20. Entering 2020-21, Covington averaged 12.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.7 steals in 396 career games with 348 starts.

Covington spent all four seasons at Tennessee State, a historically black land-grant university. He was named Ohio Valley Conference All-Newcomer team as a freshman and earned first-team All-OVC honors as a junior and second-team distinction as both a sophomore and a senior. Covington averaged 17.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks over his final two seasons.