Nate Robinson may have played 13 games for the Washington Huskies on the football field his freshman year, but he made his mark as one of the best basketball players to ever take the hardwood inside Alaska Airlines Arena. He will return to Husky Stadium on Saturday as the honorary captain when Washington faces off with USC.
This may be the most significant honorary captain that the Huskies will invite back this season, because Robinson is in a fight for his life. The Seattle native was diagnosed with kidney disease 18 years ago while he was still a dominant force in the NBA.
He ignored the diagnosis for many years, having to visit the ER after games, where he was dehydrated and violently vomiting. During that time, he was still able to become the first three-time NBA Slam Dunk champion, and in his time in the pros, the 5-foot-9 point guard made a habit of doing the unthinkable, blocking 7-foot-6 inch Yao Ming and 7-foot-1 Shaq.
He’s also one of four Chicago Bulls to score 26 points and dish out 9 assists in a playoff game, joining the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Derrick Rose.
His days are much different now, spending four hours a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday wrapped in a Twelfth Man Seahawks blanket for four hours while receiving the life-saving dialysis his body relies on to help him see another day with his three children that he had with his childhood sweetheart.
Robinson’s father, Jacque, who played running back for Washington and was the first player to ever win MVP in both the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, faced the same battle as his son and was able to receive a kidney transplant.
Robinson isn’t currently on a transplant list but will undergo a colonoscopy in November and then will see a specialist at UW’s medical center to determine if his body will accept a new kidney. Then, the search would go on to find a donor.
Former Husky Tank Johnson went to Washington with Robinson and made a video for his teammate that aired during coach Jedd Fisch’s spring game in May. The response was incredible, as Robinson received word that “thousands” of potential donors had inundated the school with offers.
Even in facing such a giant battle, Robinson has kept a great mindset.
“You know, dealing with this situation with my kidneys may have opened my eyes to where you know I can talk about it and help others,” Robinson told Men’s Health. “If I was a high school kid going through something like this, it would be scary, and I wouldn’t know how to cope or deal with something like this…you know I can be somebody’s reason to keep fighting and keep going.”
After all, his mom always saw him as a fighter.
“She knows I’m a fighter,” he continued. “She knows that I’m gonna give it my all like anything else. That’s one thing I respect about myself. I’ve never been a quitter. And I ain’t gon’ start now.”
There are currently over 123,000 people on the register needing a kidney transplant. Only about 17,000 will ever find their match. If you would like to learn more about the National Kidney Register and how you can help, click here or visit http://www.kidney.org