IN THE FALL of 2005, Robinson stood in a health care provider’s workplace on the Hospital for Particular Surgical procedure in Midtown Manhattan. He was 21, a rookie for the New York Knicks, lately drafted twenty first total out of the College of Washington. He was there for a routine bodily. The Knicks’ staff physician was a girl named Lisa Callahan. Standing 5-foot-2, most gamers she evaluated wanted to take a seat all the way down to look her within the eye, however Robinson, 5-foot-9, barely needed to sit in any respect. She rapidly took a liking to the Seattle native, generally known as a jokester. In the course of the preliminary bodily, Callahan observed Robinson’s blood stress was larger than regular — nothing too troubling, she informed him, however one thing they need to keep watch over. Hypertension, she knew, was widespread among the many Black inhabitants. Robinson in any other case handed and proceeded to start his NBA profession. Later that season, within the spring of 2006, Robinson woke one morning feeling as nauseated as he’d ever been. He had no thought why. All through his life, he’d been wholesome. He’d by no means missed a day of college. He’d by no means missed a observe. However, on that day, he felt sicker than at any level in his life. He fearful he wouldn’t make it to Knicks observe. “Cease taking part in, bro,” a teammate informed him. “You’re a rookie. You’ll be able to’t be late.” “I’m sick,” Robinson stated. “I’m not mendacity.” -via ESPN / July 16, 2024
