Nate Robinson to Fight Jake Paul on September 12: Throwback to Nate's Bulls Vs. Nets Game 4 Heroics in 2013
Former NBA player Nate Robinson will try his hand at professional boxing, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports. As rumored, Robinson will fight YouTube star Jake Paul as an undercard event for the upcoming Mike Tyson – Roy Jones Jr. fight later this year.
While there’s plenty to unpack in that paragraph alone, Robinson’s athletic talent across multiple sports is no joke. In addition to being an 11-year NBA veteran and one of the best slam dunk contest participants of all-time, he played college football at the University of Washington.
Full story here.
I mean my natural feelings of hate for Jake Paul aside, I have to root for Nate. As a Bulls fan, you have to root for Nate. After the entertainment he provided for Bulls fans in game 4 against the Nets in 2013, you owe him. We all owe him. That performance still blows my goddamn mind. I could describe the game to you, but no words could do it service. If you don’t remember it like it was yesterday, watch the clip.
Nate would not let them lose! Down 12. Then down 9. Then down 14 with three minutes to go. That’s when Nate went off. Remember, this was more than just an entertaining game, this was a moment of levity and cathartic triumphs for a team that had been written off as soon as Derrick Rose tore his ACL the year before. Even though the Bulls made another semi-decent in 2015, it’d be fair to say that Nate was the last playoff hero we had.
Everything about that game is incredible, from being the smallest guy on the floor, to taking the big hit from Gerald Wallace, to literally making everything he threw up, to giving up breaking the 4th quarter points record for a go-ahead assist to Carlos fucking Boozer, all the way to banking in one of the most ridiculous buzzer-beating-bank-shots I’ve ever seen.
Honestly, I don’t know how he’ll hit Paul, I don’t know how if he can even reach his chin. But if anyone’s going to patent and execute a jump punch in a regulation boxing match, it’s Nate Robinson. Honestly, after seeing how that Gerald Wallace hit fired him up- if I was Jake Paul I’d think twice before hitting him at all. Maybe the better move is just land one or two jabs and then dance around the rest of the fight, win on points, avoid knocking him down at all costs.
p.s. Don’t forget that Nate also put up 27 with 9 assists to take Game 1 against Lebron’s Heat. I don’t remember what happened the rest of that series. Or any of the years since.
