SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 30 -- As expected, the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday placed All-Star center David Robinson, who has never had a serious injury in his career, and forward Chuck Person on the injured list to start the season. Robinson was diagnosed with a lower back strain last week and is expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks. The 1995 NBA Most Valuable Player, who has led the Spurs to consecutive Midwest Division titles, played just one of eight exhibition games. A team spokesman described the injury as a lower back strain, adding that Robinson has experienced back pain for the last couple of years and arrived at training camp in October with lingering pain. The 31-year-old Robinson is among the best players in the NBA and was voted among the 50 greatest players in NBA history earlier this week. He averaged 25 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game last season, his seventh in the league. Outside of a torn ligament in his left hand that forced him to miss the final 14 games of the 1991-92 season, Robinson has missed just three games in his career. However, the Spurs have advanced to the Western Conference finals just once since making Robinson the top overall pick out of Navy in the 1987 draft. Robinson served a two-year armed service commitment before joining the Spurs in 1989. Robinson's injury would force Will Perdue into the starting lineup. The Spurs traded Dennis Rodman to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 for Perdue, who played mostly at power forward last season and averaged 5.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Person had back surgery Tuesday and will be out three to six months. The 32-year-old Person consulted withseveral doctors before he and team officials determined surgery to be the best recourse. His injury likely is related to a herniated disk suffered last Nov. 3 when his seat became untracked during a team flight to Denver. Despite the injury, Person appeared in 80 games last season, averaging 10.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. The Spurs were aware that Person may have been unable to play this season and signed veteran free agent forward Dominique Wilkins on Oct. 3. The 36-year-old Wilkins, a former scoring champion, played in Greece last season.
