On Cliff Robinson, Another one gone before his time From the early ‘90s Blazers …
Cliff Robinson’s death Friday at the age of 53 leaves another gaping hole in the heart of Rip City.
In 2008, Kevin Duckworth died of congestive heart failure. He was 44.
In 2015, Jerome Kersey passed away from the effects of a blood clot. He was 52.
Three of the top six players on the Trail Blazers teams that reached the NBA Finals in 1990 and ’92 have departed.
“Another one gone at far too young an age,” Clyde Drexler said Saturday from his home in Houston.
Robinson, known affectionately in these parts as “Uncle Cliffy,” had been living in Phoenix but died in Portland while getting treatment for lymphoma.
The Buffalo native scored nearly 20,000 points over an 18-year NBA career that began in Portland in 1989. Robinson played eight years in Portland, enjoying the best individual seasons of his career with the Blazers. He twice led them in scoring, was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1992-93 and made his only All-Star Game while with the club in 1994.
“Cliff would be exactly what everyone’s looking for in the game now — a 6-10 perimeter-shooting big who could score and defend,” said Danny Ainge, who played two seasons with Robinson in Portland and coached him for three in Phoenix.
In 2017, Robinson suffered a brain hemorrhage, believed to be a result of high blood pressure. He suffered some paralysis on the left side of his body. Less than two months later, I wrote a story with Cliff as he began the road to recovery.
pamplinmedia.com/pt/12-sports/356788-235592-robinson-rebounds
Robinson seemed to make gradual gains in the months and years after the brain hemorrhage.
“We all thought he was past that,” Drexler said.
“In the end,” Terry Porter said from his Portland home, “(lymphoma) was the one thing he couldn’t beat.”
The 6-10, 225-pound Robinson came to the Blazers with a bit of a chip on his shoulder after falling to the second round (36th pick overall) of the 1989 draft out of Connecticut. Attitude during his college days was said to be the question mark about Robinson with NBA scouts.
Robinson and veteran power forward Buck Williams were the key additions to a nucleus that included guards Drexler and Porter, forward Jerome Kersey and center Kevin Duckworth.
“Cliff came in a renegade as a rookie,” Williams said from his home in Maryland. “At first, he didn’t quite understand the pecking order. He thought he was going to be the centerpiece of the team.
We had to put the brakes on that a little bit.
“He came off the bench but always wanted to challenge Jerome, who was established and at that point the better player. But Cliff had so much confidence, he came in and right away felt he should be the starting ‘3.’ We all told him, ‘You have to wait your turn. You have to play off of Clyde and the rest of us.’
“The veterans on that team — Clyde, Terry and me in particular — took Cliff under our wings and broke him in the right way. From that point on, his career flourished.”
Robinson served as the team’s sixth man, averaging 9.1 points on a Portland team that reached the 1990 NBA Finals, losing in five games to Detroit.
“Cliff was such a talented player,” Williams said. “He was 6-10 with that big wingspan, and he could score and defend. Everybody talks about me as being the final piece, but Cliff was a vital part of what happened to that team, giving us so much off the bench.”
Robinson played all three front-line positions for the Blazers that season. With Duckworth and backup Wayne Cooper injured in the seven-game Western Conference semifinals with San Antonio, Robinson started at center through much of the series.
“Cliff went toe to toe with David Robinson, got us through some tough times in that series,” Cooper said from his home in Atlanta. “He was a hell of a talent. People don’t realize how good that guy was. He could do pretty much everything.”
“Cliff was incredibly versatile for his size,” said Geoff Petrie, the Blazers’ general manager from 1990-94. “He had quickness. He was able to defend right out of the gate. He would have been a great defender in today’s game with all the pick-and-rolls. He’d have been able to step out and show and not get beat so easily like some guys do.
“His offense came along as his career went along. He was always a very intense competitor. On our teams in the early ‘90s, he was invaluable because of his versatility and ability to come in and sub at different positions.”
Robinson played 461 consecutive games to start his career, still a Portland franchise record. He missed a dozen games in his eight years with the Blazers and played 82 regular-season games seven times during his career.
“He’d always be there,” Drexler said. “He didn’t miss many practices and he didn’t miss games.”
That kind of streak, Petrie said, is “indescribable.”
“Anybody who plays his number of minutes and games, it’s a testament to their will and their drive,” Petrie said from his home in Auburn, Calif. “He was a warrior.”
PJ Carlesimo coached Robinson during his final three seasons with the Blazers.
“Cliff was hurt at times, but it didn’t matter,” Carlesimo said from “the Bubble” in Orlando, where he is working as a radio analyst for the NBA playoffs. “Not only did he play, he practiced. I never ever wondered whether he’d be there or how hard he’d practice. He practiced his ass off every day. He always played balls out — always played both ends of the floor. You wish you had five guys like that.”
Chris Dudley played three seasons with Robinson in Portland and one in Phoenix.
“He was a complete gamer,” Dudley said from his home in San Diego. “There’d be times when he might be a little tired and not wanting to go in practice. But there’s no way he’d miss a game, or want to come out of a game.”
Robinson was in his fifth season when Dudley joined the Blazers in 1993.
“By the end, Cliff was one of my favorites,” Dudley said. “I won’t say that in the beginning. He was young and I came in and we were sort of battling for some of the same minutes. At first, we clashed, but then we became tight friends.
“It was amazing how fine wine got better with age. He matured as a person and with his game. He was a fun guy to play with, a guy you wanted on your side.”
Robinson played on playoff teams in all but one season of his long career.
“Cliff liked to win,” Drexler said. “He was a real competitor. And he loved the game of basketball. A lot of big guys liked to play the game, but he loved it. He was a hooper.
“I’ll give you a glimpse of Cliff’s personality before games. He’d go out and shoot for maybe 90 minutes before a game. He’d come back to the locker room soaking wet. I’d be sitting there in my suit, reading a book until 15 minutes before we had to get ready for (Coach Rick Adelman’s) pre-game talk. Cliff would say, ‘come on CD, got to get ready for this one.’ I’d laugh and say, ‘Cliff, calm down. You do whatever you need to do. When they throw up that opening tip, I’ll be ready to play, too.’
“He was real intense, and I was the opposite. I was so laid back, you had to wake me up.”
Late in his career after he’d left Portland, Robinson twice made the NBA All-Defensive second team.
But he never made a first team.
“He didn’t get as much recognition as he should have gotten,” Carlesimo said. “He could have been All-Defense eight or 10 times.”
Robinson got a lot of his savvy from being around veterans such as Williams and Kersey early in his career.
“Cliff learned a lot going up against Buck and Jerome every day in practice,” Porter said. “He did a great job making himself into an elite NBA player.”
Carlesimo tried to recruit Robinson at Seton Hall, then coached against him for four years in the Big East.
“He made one horrible decision — UConn instead of Seton Hall — but he was a quality player in the Big East,” PJ said. “I told scouts he was going to be a really good pro because of his size and versatility.
“When I coached him, we had our moments. He was a bit high-strung. We had our dust-ups, but it was always over with the next day. You knew what you were getting with Clifford Robinson. Tremendous value. He earned his paycheck.”
Ainge is the only man to coach and play with Robinson.
“When we played together in Portland, Cliff was more of a 3 and played some 4,” the executive vice president of the Boston Celtics said. “When I coached in Phoenix, we used him as a 5 quite a bit. He was a really good post defender. It’s amazing how strong he was for his weight, and he was able to hold his position.”
Ainge said he liked Robinson as a person.
“He could scowl when things didn’t go right,” Ainge said. “But most of the time he was smiling. He was a great guy to play with and fun to coach.”
‘Cliff was a lot of fun,” Williams said. “He laughed a lot. My wife and I threw a team party one Christmas. He came to the party with some chitlins and put it in our microwave. The whole house smelled like chitlins. My wife was shaking her head. He loved his soul food.”
“Cliff called me ‘The Old Man’ when we played together,” Cooper said. “Cliff would go off on tangents sometimes, but we could always talk to him and calm him down.
“Over the years, we didn’t talk a lot, but I’d often send him a text to let him know I was thinking about him. He’d always text me back with ‘My man.’ “
“It’s just sad,” said Porter, who Facetimed with Robinson Monday night at halftime of the Blazers-Lakers playoff game. “We’ve lost so many guys so early. Duck. Jerome. Drazen Petrovic (in an automobile accident at age 28 in 1983). Now Cliff. All those guys who wore our Trail Blazer uniform and are no longer with us.”
I also joined NBC Sports Northwest Rip City Radio 620 on the Trail Blazers pregame show hosted by Chad Doing.
Readers: what are your favorite memories about Clifford Robinson? Share your comments below.
Reach out to Kerry Eggers here.
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