Malik Rose, Robinson’s teammate and fellow gamer on the NBA Championship-winning 1999 San Antonio Spurs, remembered getting ribbed for firing up their laptops so often after games or practices. “Dave got it too!” Rose said. “But secretly, everyone else wanted to get into it.”
“I’m used to fun on the plane, dice games, cards games, so when I got to the Spurs it was like I was in church,” said Mario Elie, a three-time NBA champion who signed with the Spurs prior to the strike-shortened 1999 season and said he brought “a little nastiness” to the team. “Very nice guys, shaking hands with everyone, and I sort of had to change that a little.”Rose said he played video games prior to joining the team in 1997, mentioning series like Madden, Zelda and Diablo.
That’s not to say “StarCraft” didn’t have its benefits. Playing with those three teammates translated into better performance on the court, according to Rose. “[Robinson] was into his computers,” Gaze recalled. “I didn’t understand it. That wasn’t my go. … But I was sort of envious,” he said.“I just remember those guys playing on every road game,” Elie said. “Them four guys played all the time … it was to release some tension. It was very competitive.”Elie drew a comparison between that Spurs team and the New England Patriots, in terms of professionalism and leadership. “It was sort of a nerdy type of team,” he said.
On the plane, Rose said that “out of nowhere” Robinson said he might be receiving a bonus for winning the title — but he wasn’t sure.
Nuclear launch detected...
It's Starcraft not 'Starcraft'.