Former NBA star Nate Robinson, a three-time Slam Dunk champion at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, needs a kidney from a donor with blood type A+ or O. Fellow members of his hoops community, such as former Kentucky legend and NBA player Rex Chapman are putting out the cry for help.
Robinson’s journey with kidney disease spans 16 years and over the past four years his body has been deteriorating as Robinson suffered in silence.
Now, the larger-than-life pro athlete who inspired a generation of “undersized” ballers says he “doesn’t have long to live” nearly two years after revealing that he is dealing with kidney failure, per Mail Sport:
“‘I know that I don’t have long if I can’t get a kidney,’ Robinson exclusively told Mail Sport. ‘I know I’m not going to have long to live. So I just want to make the best of it as much as I can.
He continued, ‘Some people’s bodies reject dialysis. And thank God that mine accepts it and I can live. … if I didn’t go to dialysis, I wouldn’t live probably longer than a week or two. So it’s serious, I can’t miss a day. I go in for four hours, three days a week, four hours a day. And they clean my blood to get my toxins out. And they help me out a lot because that’s how I’m living.”
Robinson has been dealing with the debilitating illness for some time now. It’s a shame that he is just feeling vulnerable enough to come out and let everyone know what he was really going through; dealing with renal kidney failure is no joke and with time of the essence, the 39-year-old is turning up the pressure on what he said back in 2022.
That he wants to be a “voice for all those who are having trouble speaking about this illness, and come together for a greater cause – our health.”
“I was never a vocal leader on the court, I preferred to lead by example, but now it’s time for me to speak up and help all those affected by or dealing with kidney disease,” Robinson said at the time.
Nate Robinson Rose To NBA Stardom With Bad Kidneys
Robinson discovered that high blood pressure had damaged his kidneys back in 2006 while playing for the New York Knicks, where he became a fan favorite because of his freakish athleticism and rose to fame. Despite this diagnosis, he continued to play with the determination that made him a two-sport star (football and hoops) at the University of Washington.
Nate would go on to win the Slam Dunk contest in 2006, 2009 and 2010. No player has won more.
Nate Robinson Kidneys Failed In 2018 Forcing Him from Pro Ball
As Nate continued to live with vibrance, his health advisers told him that his kidney function was steadily declining, but after being the 21st pick of the 2005 NBA draft, Robinson marched on, playing 11 NBA seasons and amassing more than 7,000 points, 1,900 assists, and 1,500 rebounds
Robinson’s kidneys eventually failed in 2018, forcing him to retire from professional basketball. Despite this setback, he maintains a positive outlook, refusing to let his health decline bring him down.
“I wouldn’t trade it [kidney disease] for the world,” Nate said in a kidney.org newsletter. “This is my story, and this is my journey. I’m going to be a living testimony to other kids and people around the world—they can get through something like this, and they’re not alone”
Clearly there’s still time to help Robinson live a longer and healthier life if he gets a kidney ASAP. Hopefully everything will work out for Robinson, who has much life ahead of him and plenty of more stories to share with his family, such as his son Nahmier Robinson, a football player who signed to Deion Sanders at Colorado in 2023.
More TSL Stories:
