David Robinson

David Robinson, who led the San Antonio Spurs to a league-best 62-20 record this season, yesterday was named the NBA's most valuable player. Robinson averaged 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots in 81 games this season. He received 901 points, including 73 first-place votes, in the balloting. The 7-foot-1 center ranked third in the NBA in scoring, seventh in rebounding and fourth in blocked shots. Orlando Magic center Shaquille O'Neal, who won the NBA scoring title by averaging 29.3 points per game, finished second with 605 points and 12 first- place votes.

Former Navy center David Robinson, who has remained silent on his NBA plans for six months, will sign with the San Antonio Spurs today, team officials said yesterday. Robinson, the NBA's No. 1 draft pick this year, is stationed at Kings Bay Naval Base in St. Mary's, Ga., as a naval officer. Because of his two-year military commitment, Robinson will not be able to play until the 1989-90 season, although it has been said that he might be able to turn pro after the Olympics next summer.

In the space of a year, David Robinson went from averaging 28.2 points and 11.8 rebounds to averaging eight hours a day behind a desk. Just what he needed to stay in shape for the Olympic basketball trials. The armed forces are funny that way. They get things done, but not always the easy way. We've seen enough $79 wrenches and $412 toilet seats to know that. Even basketball is too important to be left to the basketball players. After Robinson's college career ended in 1987, the Navy's idea of keeping him in shape for international play was to make him the world's tallest civil engineer.

Just as the 76ers are trying to right a sinking ship, the Admiral is coming to town. And he's probably hacked off. David "The Admiral" Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs arrive at the Spectrum tonight for a game at 7. They are propelled by a two-game losing streak while clinging to a lead of .002 percentage points over Houston in the Midwest Division. The Spurs are 25-11 and most recently lost Friday to the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves. Robinson scored 21 points and had 15 rebounds in the loss, but an injured Sean Elliott sat out his fourth straight game as the Spurs shot 37 percent.

Knicks 67 Spurs 80 In two days, the New York Knicks will get another opportunity to show whether they can be competitive against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. That is all that can be said right now. San Antonio used size, cohesiveness, focus, and too much Tim Duncan to humble the Knicks last night in Game 2. Duncan had 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots. David Robinson added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. And the Spurs held New York scoreless over a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter as they upended the Knicks, 80-67, in front of 39,554 at the Alamodome.

David Robinson and Shawn Bradley each took two years off from basketball before entering the NBA. At the moment, the similarities between San Antonio's all-star center and the 76ers' elongated rookie stop right there. "It's a hard situation for him. I went through the same thing," said Robinson. "You're jumping so far up to a different level of play that it can affect your confidence. It took me a while at first to adjust. " Like what? A quarter? Robinson was a unanimous rookie-of-the-year selection after his first campaign, one in which he averaged 24 points, 12 rebounds and 3.9 blocks.

TODAY WE bid farewell to some figures who logged a couple of centuries of good work among them - but left us wanting more. To "the Admiral," David Robinson, who finally weighed anchor after 14 years. He got to go out with another title: the NBA's Classiest Player. David Brinkley used TV to turn the news into a hotter, more sophisticated commodity. From your colleagues: Good night, David. Gregory Peck lived just outside the public glare so his film characters wouldn't have to share the spotlight.

Shawn Bradley got his hands on a lot of Minnesota Timberwolves shots, but a win remained elusive for the ex-Sixer. Bradley recorded a season-high nine blocks in his debut for New Jersey. But it didn't do the Nets much good, as they fell, 108-97, to the host Timberwolves, thanks to some hot shooting by Minnesota. Isaiah Rider led the T-Wolves to 70 percent shooting in the first three quarters, including 10-for-12 in the third period. Rider made nine of 12 shots for 20 points, including all three of his third-quarter shots.

The basketball appeared to be going in the hoop. Everybody assumed so. David Robinson doesn't make assumptions, so he took off upcourt. The ball rattled out and Robinson neared midcourt. Before you could determine how he got there so quickly, he was filling a lane and the ball was in his hands. And before you wondered what he was going to do next, he rammed the ball into the hoop with so much force that the floor of the Albert Gersten Pavilion appeared in danger of denting. San Antonio Spurs coach Larry Brown, sitting in the stands with a few hundred other hoopaholics Saturday evening, just smiled.

The Golden State Warriors yesterday acquired former 76er Chris Welp from the San Antonio Spurs for fellow center Uwe Blab. Welp, a 7-footer who, like Blab, is a native of West Germany, had received extremely limited playing time this season, appearing in 13 games and scoring only 15 points. He was behind three other big men - rookie David Robinson, Frank Brickowski and Caldwell Jones - with the Spurs. "Obviously, I didn't have much of an opportunity to play behind a great player like David Robinson," said Welp, the Sixers' first-round draft choice in 1987.

SAN ANTONIO - Before Sunday's 76ers-Spurs game, Malik Rose sat at midcourt with a microphone in one hand, a television camera a few feet away and someone dabbing makeup to his face. How times have changed from the way Rose used to spend his time on the court in San Antonio. Rose, now employed by Comcast SportsNet as the color analyst for Sixers games alongside longtime play-by-play man Marc Zumoff, spent seven-plus season playing for the Spurs, winning NBA titles with them in 1999 and 2003.

It's official: You can stop worrying about drought. The region received about a half-year's worth of rain in August, and on Friday the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced that it was lifting the drought watch that covered Philadelphia, its neighboring counties, and 35 others. No advisories had been posted in New Jersey. The watch, declared Aug. 5, resulted from a dry May, June, and July, when precipitation was almost 4.5 inches below normal in Philadelphia.

It's official: You can stop worrying about drought. So far in 2011, the region has received about an entire's year worth of rain, with roughly half of that coming in August. Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced that it has decided to lift the "drought watch" that covered Philadelphia, its neighboring counties and 35 others. No advisories had been posted in New Jersey. The watch, declared Aug. 5, was the legacy of a dry May, June, and July when precipitation was almost 4.5 inches below normal in Philadelphia.

LOOKING BACK on previous drafts is rarely fair to the clubs that select, but it's always fun. Hindsight's perfect vision allows even the most casual fan to wonder, "Wow. What if . . . " The NBA upped the intrigue when it instituted its lottery 25 years ago. Hatched in the summer of 1984, the system was enacted primarily to dissuade bad teams from tanking games to gain a higher pick in the subsequent draft. It also was brought about to try to dispel any appearance of such tomfoolery, which some would argue was as egregious as anything Tim Donaghy may or may not have pulled.

Tony Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and the San Antonio Spurs improved upon the best road start in franchise history with a 98-78 win over host Seattle last night. The Spurs improved to 7-0 on the road and are the only unbeaten road team left in the NBA. San Antonio is the fourth team in the last 10 years to start 7-0 or better on the road. Tim Duncan added 18 points and 16 rebounds and Fabricio Oberto had 16 points for the Spurs. Ray Allen led Seattle with 21 points.

The best eight weeks of the year begin tomorrow. That's when we finally find out who's who and what's what. No single-elimination, fluke-style method of determining a champion here. With four seven-game series to slog through, you'll know for sure who the best team in the NBA is at the end of June. To get those magical 16 victories, each team will need major production from its stars. But the teams also need others to do a little more, to explode on the scene. They need a big shot, a huge put-back, a defensive rebound in traffic.

Vlade Divac told ESPN.com last night that he expects to leave the Sacramento Kings after six seasons and is leaning toward returning to the Los Angeles Lakers. Divac, 36, told ESPN.com that Kings officials told him they won't increase their offer of $2.5 million for next season. "It looks like right now I'm definitely leaving Sacramento," Divac said. "I feel sad leaving, but [the Kings] didn't show any kind of interest to keep me here. "If you ask me right now, it's going to be the Lakers.

TODAY WE bid farewell to some figures who logged a couple of centuries of good work among them - but left us wanting more. To "the Admiral," David Robinson, who finally weighed anchor after 14 years. He got to go out with another title: the NBA's Classiest Player. David Brinkley used TV to turn the news into a hotter, more sophisticated commodity. From your colleagues: Good night, David. Gregory Peck lived just outside the public glare so his film characters wouldn't have to share the spotlight.

David Robinson, retiring at the end of this season, received an outpouring of appreciation last from fans in San Antonio, where he has played all 13-plus years of his stellar career. The Spurs defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-94, on David Robinson Night. The 7-1 center finished with 10 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes. "San Antonio fans, you're the best - I love you all," he said during a red-carpet ceremony after the game at the SBC Center. "I can't remember anything this special that has happened to me on the basketball court.

This wasn't the way Michael Jordan wanted to leave. Oh, sure, he got the thunderous ovation that lasted 4 minutes, the cheers growing louder with each minute. And the entire game was a lovefest, with adoring signs throughout the arena, flashbulbs popping each time he touched the ball and fans cheering his every move. It had all the makings of a perfect farewell to Chicago - except his old team sent him out a loser in the building where he once ruled the NBA. Marcus Fizer scored all but one of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulls beat Jordan and the Washington Wizards, 104-97, last night.