David Robinson’s 71-point game
Shaq was so mad afterwards because this was for the scoring title.
DRob was like, hey we won the game - If we lost the game then that’d be different.
I remember this game and in a way, I can’t blame him. This was one of the Spurs’ best years and with it being so close between Shaq and David, yeah they went all out to get him the ball from the start. I just checked the stats and no other Spur had double digit points. And this was with Terry Cummings who was a pretty notorious ball hog.
After David Thompson scored 73 in 1978, this was the next 70+ game and it took 16 years to get there. It was another 12 before Kobe cracked 70 again in his 81 point performance in 2006.
Shaq can be as bitter as he wants, but this game was an outlier in such a big way. And David Robinson deserves plenty of credit. He played great.
As a huuuuuuuuuuge David Robinson fan at the time, this was truly a surreal moment for me. It was like, out of alllll the stars in the league since I’d been alive—MJ, Barkley, Dr. J, Magic, Bird, Shaq, Moses—it was my guy who went out and cracked 70??
I had those “Well Done, 71 for Robinson” newspaper clippings on my wall for years.
As a day 1 Bam Stan I can relate. Who’da thunk.
Shaq tried to match it and only got to 51, or 53, going off memory
Then he cried about it after the game lol
Shaq ripped off 53 against the Timberwolves a few days prior, grabbing the scoring lead from Robinson in the process. As a Robinson fan, it was a real solemn day at school for me, haha.
I think Shaq only had 30-something in his season finale.
Shaq got his 50 point game a few days before and took the scoring title lead.
Also high key one of the nicest guys in the world. Would always go to the other teams bleachers during the breaks in his sons’ basketball games to take pics and avoid overcrowding our school’s area.
Also high key one of the nicest guys in the world
As could also be observed in his post-game comments, which were something along the lines of, “I looked up at the scoreboard and said ‘Oh my goodness!’”
Quite the wholesome sort.
I worked at Circuit City during the Spurs heyday and they would all come in. Us workers would make sure not to do the fan thing around them, and most people did just point and look shocked. This was pre-camera phones so it’s not like you could take a picture with them. But I always remember one little kid saw him, and the dude was barely up to his knee, and he looked up and pointed “You’re David Robinson.” He just bent over and with a big smile and amazed face said “I am????” The kids father grabbed him and got a handshake from him and just had a fun little moment with one of the best NBA centers to ever play the game.
yep! we were in SAC’s division and i played against i think his oldest son? and got to shake his hand twice
even tho im 6’4” i still felt like a 3 year old shaking his hand, good god is it massive
My favorite person to ever play pro basketball
shame he didnt do this at a home game
It was against the Clippers…not really a road game either
May as well have been a home game judging by how the fans were reacting
And with a standard television broadcast. This was toward the tail end of the era in which some games just didn’t have a carrier.
Fuck Shaq
I’m convinced that this game was the reason Hakeem won the MVP over him. I think a lot of voters back then were really old school about stat padding and thought he disrespected the game
Very possible. And then Shaq was robbed the next season so that they could give that one to Robinson instead.
drob’s 71 is still one of the most forgotten scoring performances in league history. 26-41 from the floor, 14 boards, and he did it without a single 3. the context makes it even wilder — pop kept feeding him because the scoring race with shaq was that close, and shaq was apparently furious about it after the game. one of those nights where everything fell right and the clippers just had no answer
This was before the Pop era! Back when John Lucas was coach. Incredible achievement like you said, 71 points with no threes. The admiral, a true legend of the game.
He did it with a single 3, to be clear. It’s in this very video, he makes one to take him from 64 to 67, and he missed another 3 in the game to go 1⁄2.
I think the other two comments already hit but John Lucas was leading the team at the time and I think he played a considerable role in the performance. He was an excitable sort and one of his points of emphasis with Robinson was to encourage David to embrace and chase his own greatness. Robinson was typically so doggone modest, so this game was a great opportunity for Lucas and Robinson’s teammates to push him to go out and get it.
And yes, he did hit exactly one three that evening. Pretty jumper heavy as a whole actually. I always thought it looked like a classic case of double and triple teaming actually backfiring because it was an unusual strategy for the defenders involved. It often looked like each defender was relying on the other to make the stop and instead they often ended up standing around and letting Robinson shoot over the top.
Was there
Surely we can get better footage than this, right?
It’s disrespectful to Kobe to post something like this.
As fraudulent as Bam’s.
Imagine what he could have accomplished if he’d just focused on his conditioning
No wonder Jordan won 6 rings. If this librarian can score 71, then even I can lmao
David Robison would pop your fucking head by flexing his bicep. What the fuck are you on about?
downvoters sarcasm-detections skills are nonexistent