Trail Blazers, UConn Great Cliff Robinson Dies At 53
Cliff Robinson, 18-year NBA veteran and legendary UConn player, has died at age 53.
#BREAKING The family of Cliff Robinson, former NBA All-Star, UConn alum and Riverside High graduate says he has died. @WGRZpic.twitter.com/2EYf0e0NPx
— Claudine Ewing (@ClaudineWgrz) August 29, 2020
The cause of death has not yet been made public.
Robinson, born in Buffalo, New York in 1966, was instrumental to setting up UConn as national contender in college basketball. Coach Jim Calhoun was hired in Robinson’s sophomore year, and the change in coaching paid off in a big way. Robinson learned how to fit into Calhoun’s plans and together they helped UConn gain national notice for the first time ever when they won the NIT championship in 1988.
That set the stage for UConn’s future prominence, and Calhoun said on Saturday that Robinson was UConn’s first great player.
Jim Calhoun on Cliff Robinson: “He was our first great player… he came from a difficult background in Buffalo, I watched him evolve as a man … he was a good man, had a great career, and was instrumental in a lot of the great things that happened at UConn.”
— David Borges (@DaveBorges) August 29, 2020
In 1999, Robinson was named to UConn’s All-Century Team. His number, 00, was retired by UConn in 2007.
After Robinson graduated in 1989, he was picked in the second round by the Portland Trail Blazers, kicking off an 18-year NBA career. He would play for the Blazers for eight years, making the playoffs each time and helping take the Blazers to the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992, though they lost both times. He was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year in 1993 and an all-star in 1994. He played 461 straight games for the Blazers to start his career, which still stands as a franchise record.
After leaving the Blazers, Robinson signed with the Phoenix Suns, where he’d stay for four seasons. He spent time with the Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets before retiring in 2007. He violated the NBA’s drug policy a few times during his career, the first time in 2001 when he was arrested for marijuana possession and driving under the influence. He was suspended one game. He was suspended five games in 2005 and again in 2006 for marijuana use.
After retirement, Robinson turned his love of marijuana into a business. He became a supporter of legalization and established the “Uncle Cliffy” brand of cannabis products. He was also a contestant on the reality show “Survivor” in 2013.
Robinson suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2017, which caused him to have a stroke. He also had a tumor removed from his jaw in 2018, which Robinson announced on his Twitter account.
The basketball world mourns Robinson’s death
When the news of Robinson’s death broke on Saturday morning, the response on social media was immediate. Fans, friends, and players shared their memories and celebrated his accomplishments amid an outpouring of sympathy for the much-loved Uncle Cliffy.
The UConn Basketball family mourns the loss of a legendary player and person, Clifford Robinson. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cliff’s family at this difficult time �
Rest In Peace, Cliff. pic.twitter.com/Bp6Z5hbVUb
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) August 29, 2020
Cliff Robinson is also one of 3 players (w/ Sheed & Dirk) in NBA history with more than 1,000 3PTS, BLKS & STLS.
Best Game: 50 PTS (17/26 FG)
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 29, 2020
Long live Cliff Robinson.
(@trailblazers) pic.twitter.com/cekI2Ihy8X
— Whistle (@WhistleSports) August 29, 2020
Peaceful Journey to my @BigEastTourney and @NBA brother Cliff Robinson pic.twitter.com/XMDskVhT8c
— Derrick Coleman (@44TheLegend) August 29, 2020
People forget just how important Cliff Robinson was to those early @DetroitPistons teams in ’01 and ’02. Durable as hell, reliable scorer, good teammate.
Helped create the foundation for the ’04 championship team.
R.I.P. Uncle Cliff pic.twitter.com/I45kAhReMs
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) August 29, 2020
RIP Clifford Robinson – some of my earliest memories of NBA basketball were of you as the lifeblood to those early/mid 90’s Blazers teams. The Memorial Coliseum days!! RIP to a Portland legend.
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) August 29, 2020
We are saddened to learn that #Survivor (and NBA) legend Cliff Robinson has died at 53, confirmed by news sources.
“Uncle Cliffy” was an instrumental part of making Season 28: Cagayan as good as it was. He was also the first former NBA player on the show. pic.twitter.com/5Jkh3TRPEk
— Survivor Reddit (@Survivor_Reddit) August 29, 2020
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Published at Sat, 29 Aug 2020 16:04:44 +0000
Colin Kaepernick Writes LeBron James, Thanks Him After NBA Walkouts Over Jacob Blake Shooting
LeBron James has been extremely vocal this past week following the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin, and amid the NBA’s walkouts in response.
Colin Kaepernick is right behind him.
Colin Kaepernick writes LeBron James, thanks him for protesting
Kaepernick — who first started protesting during the national anthem exactly four years before Wednesday’s walkouts — wrote a letter to James this week thanking him.
“Four years ago on August 14, 2016, I began protesting against systemic racism and social injustice,” Kaepernick wrote to James. “Truth is what I sought. Solidarity is what you showed me. Love is what moves us forward.
“Thank you for staying true.”
James shared the letter on his Instagram story on Friday afternoon.
“Standing/kneeling right next to you brother! Appreciate you,” James wrote on the story.
The Milwaukee Bucks were the first team to stage a walkout on Wednesday afternoon after Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot in the back multiple times by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police on Sunday as he tried to get into his car. He is now paralyzed from the waist down.
Every other team in the league quickly followed the Bucks’ lead — as did several other major sports leagues — and the players held a contentious, emotional meeting later that night. James, along with the Lakers and Clippers, was reportedly ready to walk away from the season entirely at that point, too.
Yet after a call with former President Barack Obama and another series of meetings on Thursday, the league is set to resume play on Saturday.
While there wasn’t ever any doubt that Kaepernick would be behind them — they are fighting for the same cause, after all — the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback is now officially the latest prominent figure in the sports world to offer his support to players in the league.
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Published at Sat, 29 Aug 2020 14:29:58 +0000