123. Leonard Truck Robinson
One of the games best rebounders and most fundamentally sound players, Leonard “truck” Robinson often gets forgotten when talking about great players from the 70s. But the two time all-star and one time rebounding champion made his mark on several very good team in the 70s and early 80s.
A four year star at the University of Tennessee State Robinson averaged a double-double in 3 of his 4 seasons with TSU. His junior season he averaged 26 points and 18 rebounds a game. However, despite his accolades he fell to the second round of the NBA draft and was picked up by the Washington Bullets.
The Bullets were loaded up front with bigs like Wes Unceld and Elvin Hayes. This meant that Robinson didn’t see a lot of minutes his rookie year and averaged just 5 points and 4 rebounds. The team did reach the NBA finals however.
Robinson’s numbers jumped his second year to 11 points and 7 rebounds. He played only part of his third year with the Bullets before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks. Robinson would play only half a season with the Hawks before signing as a free agent with the New Orleans Jazz.
Robinson would have his best season of his career with the Jazz. He averaged 23 points and a league high 16 rebounds a game. He also made his first all-star game that season. He had another stellar half season with the Jazz before they traded him to the Phoenix Suns.
With the Suns Robinson’s numbers decreased because of the superior talent around him but he was still a key member of the team and in 1981 made the all-star game for a second time in his career. While not his statistical best, Robinson likely had the best years of his career with the Suns averaging just a few percentage points of a rebound shy of a double-double in all four of his seasons with the Suns.
In 1982 he was traded to the Knicks where he really struggled. Fans began to call him truck with four flat tires. He averaged only 9 points and 8 rebounds in his first year with the Knicks. His numbers never improved and he retired in 1984.
In 775 career games Robinson had averages of 16 points and 9 rebounds and at six-foot-seven-inches is one of the smallest players to ever lead the NBA in rebounding. He is currently an assistant with the Sacramento Kings.
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