Jackie Robinson (basketball, born 1955)

Last updated

Jackie Robinson
Personal information
Born (1955-05-20) May 20, 1955 (age 69)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school Morningside (Inglewood, California)
College UNLV (1973–1978)
NBA draft 1978: 4th round, 67th overall pick
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career1978–1985
Position Small forward
Number22, 9, 30, 8
Career history
1978–1979Las Vegas Dealers
1979 Seattle SuperSonics
1980 Detroit Pistons
1981 Chicago Bulls
1981–1982 Maine Lumberjacks
1982–1983 Rapident Livorno
1983–1984 Maccabi Tel Aviv
1984–1985 Espanyol
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference

Jackie Robinson (born May 20, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player.

Contents

Career

A 6'6" forward from UNLV, Robinson played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 to 1981 as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, Detroit Pistons, and Chicago Bulls. He averaged 3.8 points per game in his NBA career and won an NBA Championship with Seattle in 1979.

Retirement

Afterward, Robinson played five years in Europe, and upon retirement held executive positions in several Las Vegas companies that worked in retail, real estate, construction, credit, and the food and beverage industries. He was a one-time owner of the Las Vegas Silver Bandits of the defunct International Basketball League, [1] and the Las Vegas Slam of the American Basketball Association. [2] [3]

By 2008, Robinson and real estate veteran Michael Bellon had teamed up to develop a multibillion-dollar project on Bulloch and Gaffin's property called Elysium. It called for condos and hotel rooms, a dome-covered ocean-beach swimming complex, and more. It was to be located on the southeast of the Las Vegas Strip. [4] [5] [6]

Robinson is currently working to build in Las Vegas the All Net Resort and Arena, a $4 billion hotel, shopping, and arena complex that could attract an NBA expansion team to Nevada. [7] The project was approved August of 2014, though it wouldn't be until March of 2017 that excavation of the site would begin. In 2017, the construction of an additional 63-story tower had been approved for the site. At which time Robinson said that his financing was “signed, done, sealed, delivered.” He also indicated construction would go vertical around late spring 2018. In July 2017, lawyers for Robinson’s group contradicted Robinson's statement that funding was secure, saying in court papers that “difficulties in funding” the project had sparked construction delays and shortly thereafter construction came to a complete halt. Since construction stopped some contractors have claimed in court filings that they are owed money. In late 2018 Robinson said a loan agreement had been made with The Bank of Qatar after the expansion plan was approved but this source of funding could not be confirmed at the time by journalists. The Las Vegas Review Journal said at the time, "Robinson, who initially planned to open his project in 2016, now expects to finish in 2021." with a quote from Robinson saying, "The project will get completed — 100 percent”. As of 2023 construction remains stalled. [8] [9] [10]

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References

  1. Another arena proposed for the Las Vegas Strip
  2. "SONICS: Jackie Robinson: The Other One". www.nba.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  3. "Rattlers put focus on community - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper". December 23, 2003.
  4. "Las Vegas Strip property for sale again | Las Vegas Review-Journal". February 5, 2020.
  5. "Jackie Robinson '1,000%' committed to Las Vegas Strip arena, hotel project". August 2, 2019.
  6. "California developer plans luxury hotel on south Strip". February 18, 2020.
  7. "New renderings released for 'All Net Resort and Arena'; owner plans to break ground on project later this year".
  8. Developer Robinson still pursuing arena development issues
  9. Commissioners green light new All Net Arena plans
  10. "Las Vegas builders have history of hyping projects that fail". November 11, 2018.