THE FUSE

When the San Antonio Spurs made David Robinson the first overall pick of the 1987 NBA draft, they did something almost no team would dare to do. They waited. Robinson, a 7-foot-1 center out of the United States Naval Academy, owed the country two years of active-duty service, and he intended to honor it. While other rookies reported to training camp, the player who would become one of the greatest centers in history reported for duty as a commissioned naval officer. The Spurs held his rights and held their breath, betting that a man disciplined enough to serve would be worth the delay.