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Recently, during the NCAA tournament, Hakeem Olajawon had to face disrespect. After his alma mater, the Cougars won over Duke, the Dream, wanted to celebrate with the players. But the security guard denied not knowing who the legend actually was. During the same tournament, another NBA icon, David Robinson, had suffered a similar incident. He was outside the court, and the incident involved a fan who knew about the legend.
“This fan got mad at David Robinson for not signing his jersey and dropped it at his feet 
.” The Dunk Central added the video of the ‘Admiral,’ who was near a vehicle when the fan approached him. In the video, the said fan approached the Hall of Famer for an autograph on his jersey. But in the video, the Spurs legend politely declined the request, saying, “Not right now.” What transpired next caused a lot of uproar on social media.
The clip on X already had more than 3.6 million views in less than 24 hours. The fan immediately threw the jersey down near the former Spurs center’s feet. Obviously, the disrespect spread like wildfire on X, as everybody wanted to know if there was more to the story.
This fan got mad at David Robinson for not signing his jersey and dropped it at his feet
(h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 8, 2025
On Instagram, the ‘Basketball Coverage’ page dropped more information about the event and why David Robinson refused in the first place. It has close to 600k followers, defended the Spurs legend. “Also apparently fans were told this was for pictures only so no surprise he wouldn’t sign it 
u/-plugnplay.” Since the event was only picture-related, one would assume that was why the 2x NBA champion refused the photo in the first place.
This is why a fan wrote, “Fans are getting to comfortable disrespecting players.”However, the interaction between the 59-year-old and the fan left the internet divided. Even though the Admiral was right to refuse a photograph, the fans felt otherwise.
David Robinson’s right to refusal was called wrong by fans
As stated previously, it was during the Final Four proceedings which were taking place in San Antonio. The Spurs legend maximized his time by doing a meet and greet for the fans. In partnership with Nissan, and took place at 3:30 pm Sunday at Civic Park. It was the Nissan 4-Point Shootout, where fans met the legend. That’s why a fan said the support should be two ways. “Athletes should also support the people that support them. It takes 2 seconds to sign something.”
But once Robinson politely declined the request, was there a need to throw the jersey to the ground? A netizen felt otherwise.” You don’t do this to a legend…” But did you know even Shaquille O’Neal suffered the same fate when he met the 1995 MVP. “Shaq experienced the same thing from David Robinson lol.” Let’s make something clear: after his playing days were over, the 4x NBA champion admitted the story was never true.
Shaq made it up to have extra motivation to go against Robinson. Later, Big Aristotle also apologized for not only creating the rumor but also spreading it. Speaking about spreading information, a fan wrote a thesis of mistakes that both David Robinson and the fan did during that awkward meet and greet. “Although the gesture was disrespectful after not signing the jersey the fan probably lost respect for a player he may have idolized and had no need for the jersey anymore.”
Being a fan does not come with entitlement. Respecting the players and icons’ personal space is a very basic feeling. If Robinson had signed one photograph who knows how many fans would have demanded the same? Plus, we also don’t know if the signature jersey could be part of some bigger auction on the internet. But could the fan only have one moment meeting the NBA icon and that’s why the demand for the signature could also be true?
The post David Robinson’s refusal leaves social media divided as the Spurs legend faces an unpleasant encounter appeared first on EssentiallySports.
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