Flynn Robinson's life in basketball didn't end at 33
The way Flynn Robinson sees it, the Lakers' all-time record for consecutive victories was never seriously imperiled even as the Houston Rockets bumped off foe after foe through February and into the middle of March.
"Twenty-two," Robinson says of the Rockets' streak, which was ended last week by the Boston Celtics, "is a long way from 33."
Thirty-three, of course, is the remarkable number that Robinson helped the Lakers stamp into the record books during the 1971-72 season. Robinson, who turns 67 next month, was a 6-foot-1 guard and the top-scoring reserve on a team that was unbeatable for two months and brought Los Angeles its first NBA title.
As a backup to starters Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, the former Wyoming star averaged nearly 10 points in fewer than 16 minutes a game.
Kingmaker Chick Hearn dubbed him "Instant Offense."
All these years later, Robinson still laces up his high-tops regularly and plays in 60-and-over tournaments around the country -- "I'm still Instant Offense," he says, "but you have to pass the ball too" -- and says 33 still resonates.
"The streak means that when I go to the Y, they say, 'Flynn Robinson played on that Laker team that won 33 in a row,' " says Robinson, who lives near Hawthorne and plays at the Westchester YMCA. "They don't say that that team also won the NBA championship and had the all-time best record for 20-something years. I guess that's what the streak means to me. And so I deal with it."
By that, he means he deals with questions from reporters and fans asking if the '71-72 Lakers, whose 69-13 record set an NBA record, would have defeated the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls of 1995-96, who were 72-10. Or, more recently, if the Rockets could eclipse the Lakers' record for consecutive victories.
"I don't think none of them could've beaten us," Robinson says of the '71-72 champions, whose top rebounder and fourth-leading scorer was Wilt Chamberlain. "I mean, we had a monster team. Of course, we can't go back in time."
No matter. Robinson is content with the here and now.
"I'm enjoying life, having fun," he says. "That's been my outlook all my life. We get eight to 10 retired players dying every year, and when you see that, you realize you've got to do some positive things and keep on moving."
One thing that keeps him going, Robinson says, is participating in a program that takes underprivileged kids out on the ocean and teaches them how to fish.
