Nate Robinson Dubs Vince Carter Greatest Ever NBA Dunker

Sports Illustrated

Three-time NBA Dunk Contest Champion Nate Robinson joins Sports Illustrated ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend where he has been appointed AT&T’s Chief Dunk Officer of this year’s contest.

Transcript

00:00 I'm Robin Lundberg, joined now by the AT&T Chief Dunk Officer

00:04 ahead of All-Star Weekend, Mr. Nate Robinson.

00:07 We got the Slam Dunk Contest coming up.

00:10 Obviously, you're a former participant.

00:13 What are your thoughts when you see the field for this year's contest?

00:16 I like the lineup.

00:20 I mean, I'm very excited to see Matt McClellan come back and do it again

00:24 and kind of repeat what he did from last year.

00:26 He put the Dunk Contest back on notice for the world to see.

00:30 And it was pretty fun to watch him last year.

00:33 And then we got some new entries this year, Jalen Brown, Jaquez, and Toppin.

00:40 So we're trying to see what these guys can bring to the table.

00:43 What stood out to you about the participants?

00:46 I know for a lot of fans, it was-- and myself-- it was probably Jalen Brown

00:50 electing to do this, considering he is a higher-tier player than people

00:54 we've seen in recent years.

00:56 Yeah, that was pretty cool that he humbled himself and come down

01:00 and do the Dunk Contest.

01:02 It's pretty cool, man, because he's a fan favorite.

01:05 A lot of fans love his game.

01:08 For him to come in and do it is pretty dope.

01:10 Toppin's been doing crazy dunks in games between the legs and stuff like that.

01:15 Recently, just crazy athletic.

01:20 And it's going to be fun to see.

01:22 The sleeper is Mr. Jaquez.

01:24 We don't know what he got.

01:25 And he's a great player from Miami, rookie, doing a great deal.

01:31 I follow him at UCLA.

01:34 He was a great player at UCLA.

01:35 But I never knew that he had bounce like that.

01:37 So it's going to be interesting to see what he brings to the table.

01:40 What do you say to the people who say the Dunk Contest is dead or we've seen it all?

01:45 What's your rebuke to that?

01:46 I mean, we pretty much have seen it all.

01:50 But that's the surprising thing about the Dunk Contest.

01:54 You never know what you're going to get.

01:55 Somebody's going to do something we've never seen before.

01:58 And I'm excited to see what these guys have in store.

02:01 Who's the best dunker ever, in your opinion?

02:04 Vince Carter, for sure.

02:08 Vince Carter is one of the best dunkers ever.

02:10 Zach Levine is up there.

02:12 Aaron Gordon is up there, for sure.

02:16 Dominique Wilkins.

02:18 Those are the type of guys that have shown to be the Dunk Contest

02:22 champions that have been doing some crazy stuff.

02:26 And first-time type deal.

02:28 Jason Richardson as well.

02:29 The list goes on.

02:32 There's so many great dunkers out there.

02:33 All right.

02:34 Now, how are you doing, Nate?

02:36 I read yesterday that you were actually in search of a kidney donor.

02:40 Everybody obviously out there hoping--

02:43 I wasn't necessarily.

02:46 I am.

02:46 But if God can bring me one, that's something that I'm looking forward to getting.

02:52 Whoever wants to be nice enough to loan me a kidney, that'd be pretty cool.

03:00 But yeah, I had kidney failure for the last--

03:03 well, my kidneys were deteriorating when I was on the Knicks my rookie year.

03:09 From then on throughout my NBA career, I've been battling and dealing with this for years.

03:14 But they failed about four years ago.

03:16 And I've been sitting here dealing with kidney failure, going to dialysis three days a week

03:22 for four hours.

03:23 And that's how my life's been for the last couple of years, man.

03:26 And now I'm just hopefully waiting on somebody that can do me a solid.

03:30 Waiting on an angel to come bless me with a kidney.

03:33 Well, we obviously all hope the best for you.

03:36 And you're the chief dunk officer, AT&T, coming up All-Star weekend.

03:41 Tell us what you're excited about with that and what your role is going to be.

03:44 Man, it's interacting back with the fans, man.

03:47 AT&T gave me a great opportunity to come and be the chief guy, head guy in charge, chief

03:53 officer.

03:53 So I think that's pretty awesome, man.

03:54 And so I thank AT&T for that.

03:56 And to be a part of the dunk contest again, it's always special.

04:00 It's always going to be energetic, entertaining.

04:04 And to give the fans a little background scoop on--

04:08 you know, from behind the scenes and to interact with a three-time Clam Dunk champion like

04:12 myself, to give you guys some insights and let you guys know what to expect.

04:16 And just keeping you on your feet and at the edge of your seats.

04:21 Well, you were able to do that throughout your career, Nate.

04:24 I mean, I covered the Knicks when you were on the team.

04:26 I remember you coming off the bench randomly that one game and lighting it up with Mike

04:30 D'Antoni as the coach.

04:32 And I'll tell you this anecdote.

04:33 Roy Jones Jr., he was a guest on a show I was doing.

04:38 And I think he had practiced with you guys for a few days.

04:41 And he came back--

04:41 Yeah, before.

04:42 Yeah, he said Nate Robinson is the best athlete I've ever seen in my life.

04:46 That's pretty cool, man.

04:48 I think that's a big honor, man, because coming from Roy Jones Jr., I thought it was like

04:52 the coolest thing ever that Roy Jones Jr. was practicing with the Knicks.

04:55 Like, I was like a kid in the candy store.

04:57 Like, I was so excited to have a guy like Roy Jones Jr. come to our practice and actually

05:03 practice with us, man.

05:04 It was so cool, man.

05:05 Shout out to big Roy Jones.

05:07 All right, Nate.

05:08 Appreciate the time and enjoy All-Star weekend.

05:11 Man, anytime.

05:12 Thank you, guys.

05:13 Appreciate you.

05:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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