At the age of 32, Nate Robinson is attempting to make an NBA comeback. His current path includes a stint with the Delaware 87ers of the D-League that began on Tuesday evening. In advance of his debut, though, Robinson reportedly revealed an interesting factoid about the fan base of the Philadelphia 76ers who, of course, operate the 87ers.
Apparently, some fans really don’t like Robinson and it comes for what seems to be an insane reason.
Nate Robinson says he hears from Sixers fans all the time who think Iguodala was robbed in the '06 dunk contest.
— Jake Pavorsky (@JakePavorsky) February 14, 2017
Robinson was victorious in the 2006 slam dunk contest by only one point over Iguodala and, apparently, this is still a thing. It should be noted that the 5’9 guard is the NBA’s only three-time slam dunk contest winner but this was the first title for Robinson and folks are still salty. In fact, a quick Twitter search yields several results from Philly faithful that aren’t particularly keen on what transpired.
In order for Nate Robinson to wear a #Sixers jersey, he has to hold a press conference to give Andre Iguodala his '06 dunk contest trophy.
— Jeff McMenamin (@SixersBlog) January 8, 2017
Andre Iguodala was robbed when he went against nate robinson in the dunk contest, so disrespectful
— TRU$T 🌿👑♐🇧🇸 (@Trustin_Believe) September 5, 2016
I legit hated Nate Robinson after that '06 dunk contest. Robbery is an understatement what they did to Iguodala.
— Henry Pierpont (@DontBeAnUCH) February 14, 2016
The biggest complaint from Sixers fans (and, really, NBA fans) with regards to Robinson’s performance is that he simply could not convert dunks in a reasonable time frame. While his final conversions were spectacular (as you can see above), the 2006 contest will always be remembered as the one Robinson won despite missing over… and over… and over again.
It is pretty silly to actually be upset about an exhibition contest which took place a decade ago, and much of this is probably done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Still, Nate Robinson is trying to reach the NBA again as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and some fans won’t be pleased if he completes that goal.
