Former Vanderbilt Big Man Liam Robbins Is As Healthy As He's Been In A Long Time and Is Hoping to Reap The Benefits

Perhaps an observer that hadn’t seen Liam Robbins step up to the top of the key and guard a pick and roll since he led Vanderbilt to a late-season push in 2022-23 wouldn’t have thought anything of him shuffling his feet and getting in between NBA Summer League guards and the rim each time down the floor.

Robbins' unique mobility and ability to use it to impact the game on the defensive end has long been one of his calling cards, after all. Without the full context of Robbins’ basketball journey, watching the 7-footer get up and down the court swiftly on an NBA court could be taken for granted.

Those with familiarity of his situation know better, though.

Since Robbins’ last time on the floor at Vanderbilt, he’s questioned if he’d ever be the same again. He’s had multiple surgeries on a broken fibula. He’s had to learn that the business side of the NBA can often be cold.

Yet, there he was moving his feet and looking like a healthy version of himself again while wearing a No. 31 Washington Wizards jersey.

“It’s the best since I was a senior at Vandy,” Robbins told Vandy on SI on a post NBA Summer League phone call in regards to his health. “I've been dealing with some injuries in the past so when I went out there I tried to show I was extra mobile and I could run the floor a lot and I felt like I did that I showed that I can space five out and do consecutive actions, go from a DHO back up into a ball screen roll again pick and pop to show that I'm fully healthy, fully mobile and I can be an asset to a team that's looking for a big who can protect him and also put pressure on the offensive guys as a rim protector.”

Robbins--who is now a free agent deliberating the next basketball opportunity he'll pursue--averaged just 2.8 points while playing 12.5 minutes a game in the Summer League, but his mission of showing teams that he’s healthy enough to make an impact appears to have been a success.

Back in Robbins’ hometown of Davenport, Iowa, he often worked sports scientist and personal trainer Max Schmarzo–who Robbins also describes as “Iowa’s most famous dad”-- into his daily routine leading up to the summer league. Robbins and Schmarzo worked to improve his fundamental ability, but also the things that would impact his availability once he got back on it.

“I’ve improved not only my strength, but my endurance on the court and my overall skill level,” Robbins said. “Doing all that, I’ve noticed the benefits even in the Summer League and I’m hoping other teams get to notice that development put in this offseason and how I continue to grow as a player. So, I’m pretty thrilled about the work I’ve put in with him.”

Liam Robbins — Robbins and Schmarzo work out near Robbins' hometown in Iowa. | Julia Hansen

Robbins would have liked to have done more with a few of the opportunities he got as a member of the Wizards Summer League team, but after what he’s been through he can’t help but think about the significance of what he’s able to show nowadays.

A year ago, Robbins had been working out just a few weeks while hoping teams would take a chance on his upside after missing what would’ve been his rookie season with his fibula injury. He was working to get into shape. He was hoping that the ugly shooting performances he’d put together in Lipscomb’s Allen Arena would be out of his system by the time he was full go.

Robbins’ first healthy offseason workout didn’t come until Lipscomb’s graduation weekend in early May, but the summer has provided as close to a healthy offseason as he’s had since his college days. For once in recent memory, more basketball than rehab.

It appears as if that could go a long way for the former Vanderbilt big man as he looks to find a consistent place as a pro.

“I feel like now I can really kind of find my groove in professional basketball,” Robbins said. “I think that’s what’s really exciting for me is now it’s like I’ve kinda got the rust off. Now it’s time to go build on what I can do instead of just trying to get back.”