When the Bulls sought an extra point guard to help fill in for Derrick Rose, they landed former slam-dunk champ Nate Robinson.
Considering Robinson is small (5-feet-9), offensive-minded and brings a loud personality, it’s easy to think that maybe he’s not a coach Thibodeau kind of guy.
Not true.
“I thought the plusses outweigh any negatives,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He is loud and I prefer the loud to be on defense. But he’s mature and he’s grown a lot. He’s sort of an X-factor and I like that.”
Robinson was almost a novelty when he arrived in the NBA with the New York Knicks in 2005. He hit game-winning shots, dominated the dunk contest and made the New York locker room the noisiest place in the league.
Now Robinson is a 28-year-old veteran and father of three. He’s still got plenty of energy, but even he admits to mellowing out quite a bit.
“A lot,” he said. “I was 20 years old coming in. I was still star-struck by a lot of players I was always a fan of.
“I think me having kids really mellowed me down a lot, just having an understanding of a certain level of respect. Speak when spoken to, and always carrying yourself the right way. Knowing when to have fun and knowing when to be serious. It took me a while to understand it, but having kids helped me out a lot.”
