Clifford Robinson is among the NBA players born on Dec. 16.
With over 5,000 players in NBA history, at least one player was born on every day of the calendar year – including three leap day ballers. Our day-by-day breakdown of the players born on each day of the year continues.
Below are the most notable NBA players born on Dec. 16.
Jeff Ruland (1958): Ruland came into the league as a second round pick in the 1980 NBA Draft out of Iona, and carved out a solid career. The Golden State Warriors selected the big man, but a draft day trade sent him to the Washington Wizards. Ruland joined Washington in 1982, making two All-Star appearances through his first four seasons. He briefly retired in 1987 and returned for two years in 1991 and 1992. In his time with the Wizards, Ruland averaged 18.7 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game.
Clifford Robinson (1966): Robinson was the 36th pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, carving out a lengthy 18-year career. The big man spent most of his time coming off the bench early on, taking down Sixth Man of the Year in 1992. Robinson followed that up with his sole All-Star season in 1993. He was with the Portland Trail Blazers for the first eight years of his career, 1989-1997. During that time, Robinson averaged 16.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He closed his career by playing for the Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors before retiring in 2007.
Want to see every NBA player born on December 16? Here is the rest of the list in chronological order:
- Mac Otten (December 16, 1925)
- Claude Overton (December 16, 1927)
- Bennie Swain (December 16, 1933)
- Bill Chamberlain (December 16, 1949)
- Jimmy Foster (December 16, 1951)
- Jan van Breda Kolff (December 16, 1951)
- Orlando Woolridge (December 16, 1959)
- Brandin Knight (December 16, 1981)
- Joey Dorsey (December 16, 1983)
- Kelenna Azubuike (December 16, 1983)
- Alexey Shved (December 16, 1988)
- Nigel Hayes (December 16, 1994)
- Mark Williams (December 16, 2001)
- Justin Edwards (December 16, 2003)
