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Thomas Robinson (basketball)

From Alfawiki
Thomas Robinson
Born (1991-03-17) March 17, 1991 (age 35)
United States
OccupationProfessional basketball player
Years active2012–present
Known forConsensus All-American, 5th overall pick in 2012 NBA draft by Sacramento Kings, playing for Cangrejeros de Santurce in BSN

Thomas Earl Robinson (born March 17, 1991) is a professional basketball player, originally from the United States and now a naturalized citizen of Lebanon, currently competing with the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. Recognized as a consensus All-American during his collegiate career at the University of Kansas, Robinson was chosen as the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings.

High school career

Robinson's early years were spent in Washington, DC, where he attended Eastern High School, then transferred to Riverdale Baptist, and ultimately completed his prep career at Brewster Academy located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. During his senior season, he posted averages of 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game.

As a high school senior, he was highly ranked among recruits: Scout.com placed him at No. 24, Rivals.com at No. 31, and ESPN.com ranked him No. 40 nationwide.

College career

Entering his junior season (2011–2012), Robinson was listed among the 50 preseason candidates for the prestigious John R. Wooden Award. He was anticipated to be a key leader for Kansas alongside senior teammate Tyshawn Taylor.

On December 31, 2011, Robinson delivered a standout performance against the University of North Dakota, scoring 30 points and securing 21 rebounds—the first time a Kansas player had achieved a 30/20 game since 1961. By the conclusion of the Big 12 regular season, he held the second spot nationally with 22 double-doubles, averaging 18 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

After enduring significant personal losses—including the passing of his grandmother, grandfather, and mother within three weeks—Kansas paid tribute to Robinson with a moment of silence prior to their January 22, 2011 matchup against Texas. Head coach Bill Self commended his strength and perseverance during this difficult period.

Robinson earned recognition as the Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year on March 4, 2012, as voted by league coaches, and subsequently received the Associated Press Big 12 Player of the Year honor on March 5.

He declared for the 2012 NBA draft on April 9, 2012, opting to forgo his senior collegiate season.

College statistics

|- |style="text-align:left;"|2009–10 |style="text-align:left;"|Kansas |33||1||7.2||.485||.000||.395||2.7||.3||.2||.5||2.5 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2010–11 |style="text-align:left;"|Kansas |33||2||14.6||.601||.000||.510||6.4||.6||.4||.7||7.6 |- |style="text-align:left;"|2011–12 |style="text-align:left;"|Kansas |39||39||31.8||.505||.500||.682||11.9||1.8||1.1||.9||17.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |105||42||18.7||.525||.500||.606||7.3||1.0||.6||.7||9.8


College awards and honors

Sacramento Kings (2012–2013)

Robinson was selected as the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. On November 7, 2012, he was ejected following an incident involving an elbow to Jonas Jerebko's throat and received a two-game suspension.

Houston Rockets (2013)

On February 21, 2013, Robinson was included in a trade sending him along with Francisco García and Tyler Honeycutt to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas, Cole Aldrich, and cash considerations. The Kings decided to trade him due to the emergence of DeMarcus Cousins, which limited Robinson's playing time.

Portland Trail Blazers (2013–2015)

Robinson was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers on July 10, 2013, in return for the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou, Marko Todorović, plus two future second-round draft picks. On February 23, 2014, he achieved a career-high with 18 rebounds alongside 14 points during a victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Throughout the 2013–14 season, he averaged 4.8 points and 4.4 rebounds across 70 games.

During the 2014–15 season, Robinson initially came off the bench due to the acquisition of former All-Star big man Chris Kaman. His chance to start came after starting center Robin Lopez suffered a right-hand fracture on December 15. In his first start on December 17 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Robinson contributed 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping secure a 104–97 win. This performance made him only the third Trail Blazers player to record at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in their first start, joining Bill Walton and Maurice Lucas. Following this, Robinson provided reliable minutes as a backup power forward behind LaMarcus Aldridge, often sharing the floor with Kaman off the bench.

Philadelphia 76ers (2015)

On February 19, 2015, Robinson was part of a trade that sent him along with Will Barton, Víctor Claver, and a protected first-round pick for 2016 to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee. However, three days later, he was waived by Denver without appearing in any games.

Subsequently, on February 24, 2015, Robinson was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia 76ers. He made his debut the following day, recording seven points and six rebounds in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brooklyn Nets (2015–2016)

Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Nets on July 9, 2015. He made his debut off the bench in the season opener against the Chicago Bulls on October 28, contributing four points and five rebounds in a 115–100 defeat. On March 5, 2016, he delivered a season-high performance with 18 points and 17 rebounds over 40 minutes as a starter during a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Later that month on March 29, Robinson scored another 18 points in his second start of the season during a defeat by the Orlando Magic. On April 3, he posted his fourth straight double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds despite a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Los Angeles Lakers (2016–2017)

On September 21, 2016, Robinson signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He recorded a season-best of 16 points on March 21, 2017, in a loss against the Los Angeles Clippers, matching that scoring output again on April 1 along with nine rebounds in another defeat to the Clippers. The following day on April 2, he notched his first double-double of that season with totals of 12 points and 10 rebounds in a narrow victory over the Memphis Grizzlies by a score of 108–103.

Khimki (2017–2018)

Robinson inked a deal with the Russian team BC Khimki on September 23, 2017, committing for the 2017–18 campaign.

He later signed with the Atlanta Hawks on August 30, 2018, but was released from the roster on October 13, 2018.

Beikong Fly Dragons (2018–2019)

On December 3, 2018, Robinson joined the Chinese squad Beikong Fly Dragons.

Maine Red Claws (2019)

Robinson was claimed off waivers by the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League on March 17, 2019.

Khimki (2020)

Returning to Khimki on February 6, 2020, Robinson signed a short-term contract with the Russian club competing in both the VTB United League and EuroLeague. His agreement was for one month with an option to extend. During four EuroLeague appearances, he averaged 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds before parting ways on August 4.

Bahçeşehir Koleji (2020–2021)

Robinson became a member of Bahçeşehir Koleji in the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) on November 25, 2020.

Cangrejeros de Santurce (2021)

On May 28, 2021, Robinson was added to the roster of Cangrejeros de Santurce.

Seoul Samsung Thunders (2021–2022)

Robinson signed with the Seoul Samsung Thunders, part of the Korean Basketball League, on November 28, 2021.

Piratas de Quebradillas (2022)

He returned to Puerto Rico by signing with Piratas de Quebradillas on February 16, 2022.

In August of that year, Robinson was brought in as an import for the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) during the 2022–23 PBA Commissioner's Cup, but he was replaced prior to playing due to injury.

NLEX Road Warriors (2023)

In September 2023, Robinson joined the NLEX Road Warriors as their import for the 2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup. On November 22, during a 112–104 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier, he was involved in on-court confrontations and a postgame verbal dispute with NorthPort’s team manager Pido Jarencio, who received a ₱20,000 (US$361) fine imposed by the PBA.

Following four games, NLEX released Robinson after he missed team practices owing to an unplanned vacation.

Pelita Jaya (2024)

Robinson signed with Pelita Jaya of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) as their import player for the upcoming 2024 season on December 11, 2023. The club and Robinson parted ways on May 24, 2024.

Taipei Taishin Mars (2024–2025)

On November 30, 2024, Robinson joined the ranks of the Taipei Taishin Mars, competing in Taiwan’s Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). His contract was terminated on January 21, 2025.

Paisas Basketball (2025)

In March 2025, Robinson signed with Paisas Basketball, participating in the Basketball Champions League Americas, where he appeared in two contests.

Cangrejeros de Santurce (2025–present)

Robinson returned to Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), signing with Cangrejeros de Santurce on March 22, 2025 for that season.

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Sacramento | 51 || 0 || 15.9 || .424 || .000 || .577 || 4.7 || .7 || .5 || .4 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Houston | 19 || 0 || 13.0 || .449 || .000 || .421 || 4.1 || .5 || .8 || .3 || 4.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Portland | 70 || 0 || 12.5 || .481 || .000 || .564 || 4.4 || .5 || .3 || .3 || 4.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Portland | 32 || 4 || 12.2 || .516 || .000 || .438 || 4.2 || .3 || .5 || .3 || 3.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 22 || 0 || 18.5 || .467 || .000 || .603 || 7.7 || 1.1 || .7 || .7 || 8.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Brooklyn | 71 || 7 || 12.9 || .447 || .000 || .431 || 5.1 || .6 || .5 || .5 || 4.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | L.A. Lakers | 48 || 1|| 11.7|| .536|| .000|| .470|| 4.6|| .6|| .5|| .2|| 5.0 |- class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan="2" | Total | 313||12||13.4||.470||.000||.505||4.8||.6||.5||.4||4.9


Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2014 | align="left" | Portland | 11 || 0 || 11.1 || .419 || .000 || .857 || 2.6 || .5 || .5 || .5 || 2.9 |- class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan="2" | Total | 11 || 0 || 11.1 || .419 || .000 || .857 || 2.6 || .5 || .5 || .5 || 2.9


NBA G League

|- | align="left" | 2018–19 | align="left" | Maine | 4 || 0 || 26.5 || .585 || .250 || .684 || 13.5 || 1.5 || 1.3||1.0||19.0 |- class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan="2" | Total | 4||0||26.5||.585||.250||.684||13.5||1.5||1.3||1.0||19.0


EuroLeague

|- | align="left" | 2017–18 | align="left" | Khimki |20||1||15.6||.486||.000||.417||5.8||0.4||0.7||0.6||8.2||9.1 |- class="sortbottom" | align="center" colspan="2" | Total |20||1||15.6||.486||.000||.417||5.8||0.4||0.7||0..6||8..2||9..1


National team career

Robinson acquired Lebanese citizenship in December of 2021, subsequently joining the ranks of the Lebanon men's national basketball team. However, he has yet to make an official appearance with the squad.

Personal life

During his collegiate years, Robinson faced the profound loss of his grandmother, grandfather, and mother within a span of three weeks.

He has two siblings: an older brother named Jamal Robinson and a younger sister, Jayla Paris, born in 2003.

Following these family hardships, Angel Morris—mother to NBA players Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris—assumed a supportive guardian role for both Robinson and his sister.

Together with the Morris twins and their mother, Robinson helped establish the Family Over Everything Foundation (F.O.E).

In late 2021, he was officially granted citizenship in Lebanon, further extending his international ties through basketball representation opportunities.

External links

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