It’s hard to believe, but Nate Robinson is gearing up for his tenth season in the NBA, making us all feel old in the process. It’s been a roller coaster ride, says the three-time dunk contest champ, and his new memoir, Heart Over Height, details his journey to the league from pup to pro. I recently caught up with Robinson to discuss his transition to writing and the main themes in Heart Over Height, as well as everything from growing up a Sonics fan in Seattle, to guarding Allen Iverson, to “the dunk that got away.”
Why a book? How’d the opportunity come about?
I don’t know if a lot of people knew, but I’ve kept a journal for the last 10 years—since my rookie season in the NBA. Every day, every game, I would just write, write, write. So it seemed like a natural transition that I would one day put it all together and write a book about my whole story. I wanted to give people an inside look into who Nate Robinson really is and what Nate Robinson has been through; the ups and downs, the smiles, the tears—all of it.
What was the process like?
I had talented people around me helping me to write it and publish it, and I’m grateful for that. It’s been something I’ve always wanted to do, and so when I first read it front to back, I found I had to fight back the tears!
The journal was the starting point, but I would sit down with my co-author Jon Finkel and we would talk through some of the stories and all the memories would come flooding back. It was a great ride, and each chapter felt like a detour we were stopping off at to explore this or that, then get back on. It was like a tour we took through my life together.
One of the themes is overcoming the perception of what a guy your size can and can’t do at this level. How do you think your career would have gone if you were, say, six-foot-six’?
I know who I am as a person, and that doesn’t change regardless of my size. I still would have fought just as hard to get where I am. That’s a part of me that will never change.
But it’s true that everyone was telling this short kid he couldn’t make it and wouldn’t amount to anything—that short guys don’t last in the league. So I’ve had to make a point of proving the naysayers, doubters and haters wrong. This is a true testimony of a guy who started from nothing and accomplished so much.
Now, if I were that height, how can you not feel like the sky is the limit? People would be talking about me like they do LeBron or KD!
Despite all of the dunks and big shots—not to mention blocking Yao Ming—I think my favourite highlight of yours was actually a goal you scored at Steve Nash’s charity soccer game in NYC a few summers back. Were you a kid who just played a ton of sports growing up?
[Laughs] That’s too funny. You know what? I had never played soccer before. Like, that day was the first time I had really played. But that was a ton of fun, and not really knowing what I was doing—how you’re supposed to kick the ball or anything—I just had to rely on my athletic ability.
Football is probably my best sport outside of basketball, but I played a lot of sports growing up. I ran track, softball, ultimate Frisbee, and I’m real good at badminton and ping pong.
Growing up in Seattle who were the guys you looked up to?
Gary Payton was big. Shawn Kemp, Detlef Shrempf—all the Sonics. Warren Moon, when he was on the Seahawks, was another. We had cool guys to look up to in Seattle, man.
Ken Griffey Jr. was huge in the inner city community where I was at. He came to our neighbourhood and donated a bunch of stuff. I remember meeting him when I was a kid and he was just a great guy. Big shout out to Griffey!
What’s it like not having the Sonics around anymore, the city not having those local basketball figures to look up to?
It sucks. It flat-out sucks. Especially when you see OKC doing so well. Being a child growing up watching the Sonics and now not even having that chance to play for your home city—I’ll never have that chance and it kind of tears my heart apart. That being said, you never know, I still hold out hope that they can come back and I can still put that jersey on.
And the irony is you played for the Thunder.
I know, right!? Yeah, I was there for a year and I kept thinking, “Damn, this would be so cool if they were still the Sonics.”
Speaking of the Thunder, you had a small altercation with Steven Adams early last season. I think it was the first he was involved in, but obviously not the last. What’s the deal with that guy!?
He’s just one of those big guys who does all the dirty work. He actually hits you when he screens you, and nobody likes being on the other end of that. He gets you pretty good! He does sneaky stuff, too, like when you rebound he pushes you or holds you, that kind of stuff. But you know what? You need players like that on your team. So it’s no ill will or anything toward him as a person, but as a player, he’s that gritty Dennis Rodman-type guy. When he’s on your team you love him. But against him? You hate him.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the dunk contest. Putting in the practice for those, was there ever a dunk you had up your sleeve that you never got the chance to show?
Yes, there was a dunk I was practicing for so long, just over and over, but the percentage of me executing it wasn’t high enough to do in front of the crowd. The dunk was: you put the ball on the ground, you stand over the ball so it’s between your legs and then you do a backflip, picking up the ball with your feet on the way up. Then in mid-air, mid-flip, you let the ball go so it’s like you’re throwing an alley-oop to yourself, but with your feet. I would also do it so that after you flip the ball up, you let it bounce, and then go up and dunk it.
That’s like a crazier version of something this guy Jus Fly does.
Who’s that?
Justin Darlington. He’s a local guy from here in Toronto, and he does a lot of those big global dunk competitions.
Oh! That’s the dude who does the cartwheel dunk!? I’ve seen that before, that guy has hops!
I can’t imagine what the backflip version of that would look like.
I think I could still do that. You know what? Once I get fully healthy again, I think I’ll put that on Instagram special for the fans, show them one of the dunks that got away [Laughs].
Who’s the hardest player for you to guard?
The hardest player I’ve ever had to guard was probably Allen Iverson, just because of who he was. When I first came into the league, I told him I looked up to him so much and then I guarded him and he dropped 27 on us. At first, I was a fan; I was in an NBA uniform but I was still a fan, watching from the bench like, “Oh my God, Allen Iverson is killing our team!” Then coach called my number and I was so hyped! He got all those points on us, but I hit a game-winning shot over him in my rookie year and it changed my life forever.
Getting back to your book, another theme that comes up when you talk about your family is the role of strong women in your life.
That’s something that you just can’t ignore. My mother taught me everything. She taught me how to be a person, how to live. She taught me how to ride a bike, how to tie a tie. My mother, a woman, taught me how to be a man, how to survive. Being with a person like that who does everything for her children stays with you, man. She made sure we had everything, and even though in retrospect we didn’t have much, it was everything to us. For me, I’d say my mom is the highlight of the book. I love her.
You’re heading into your tenth season, which sounds crazy.
Doesn’t it? I’m almost an old guy but, to be honest, I still feel like I’m 21. When I get to 35, then I’ll consider myself old. That’s when you’re pushing it.
So what do you know now that you didn’t know coming into the league?
When I was a rookie I was definitely wet behind the ears, just happy to be in the NBA, and I didn’t understand that the NBA is really just about business. That realization messes you up a little bit, because as a kid you just see MJ and dream about making it. You don’t care about the money, none of that. You want to be there because that’s the pinnacle, where you can achieve everything you dream about. It seems like so much fun. And then you get there and you realize you never considered how much the business dictates things behind the scenes. You can be traded at any time—I didn’t know how stuff like that worked and it was difficult for me to understand it.
But now, 10 years in, I understand it. You learn to find ways to put that stuff behind you and really just have fun playing the game. Let each team deal with me as they see fit, but I’m just going to live my life and enjoy what I’m doing.
Heart Over Height is available online now and at most major book retailers
