Glenn Robinson III hopes to make his own mark with Sixers

His father was the Big Dog, but back when Glenn Robinson III was a little kid running around the 76ers' locker room, Allen Iverson handed him a nickname more befitting his stature.

"He called me Shorty," Robinson said Monday after his first practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "So I can't wait to see him and remind him of that."

"Shorty" is now a 6-foot-7, 21-year-old rookie swingman and the newest addition to the ever-changing Sixers roster.

The 76ers claimed Robinson off waivers on Saturday, two days after Minnesota released him.

The former Michigan Wolverine averaged just 1.2 points and 4.3 minutes in a crowded situation with the Timberwolves, stuck behind a deep collection of wings that includes No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins.

"Sometimes you have to be at the right place at the right time," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "Like all of us."

Brown said he would work Robinson in slowly but was excited to see what he could do.

Minnesota selected Robinson, who averaged 12 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists during his two-year Michigan career, with the 40th draft pick in June. The Sixers drafted Jerami Grant one pick earlier.

Glenn Robinson Jr. averaged 16.1 points for the 76ers in 2003-04. Robinson III recalled one of his favorite memories from his father's final NBA season.

"He was actually wearing a headband," Robinson said. "And he never wears a headband. A.I. threw a behind-the-back pass to him on a fastbreak and he dunked it."

Robinson said that he had no plans to wear a headband himself.