Clifford Ralph "Cliff" Robinson is an American retired professional basketball
player who played for 5 teams throughout his career in the National Basketball
Association. Basketball career
= University of Connecticut = Robinson played collegiately at the
University of Connecticut. In 1988, the Huskies won the NIT Championship and
Robinson was named to the all-tournament team. Robinson was later named to
UConn's All-Century men's Basketball team. On February 5, 2007, Robinson's
number "00" was retired at Gampel Pavilion during halftime of a UConn
basketball game against the Syracuse Orange as part of the "Huskies of Honor"
ceremony which recognized personal accomplishments of 13 former players and
three coaches. = NBA =
Robinson was selected with the 36th overall pick in the 1989 NBA draft by
the Portland Trail Blazers. Robinson played for the Trail Blazers for eight
seasons. Portland made the playoffs each year Robinson was on the team, and
played in the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. Robinson won the 1992–93 Sixth Man
of the Year Award after averaging 19.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and a career-best
1.99 blocks per game. He was an All Star with the team in 1994. Following game 4
of the 1992 Western Conference Finals against the Utah Jazz, Robinson
performed a victory dance that he later told press was named the "Uncle Cliffy".
The nickname stuck with Robinson for the rest of his career. Following a game
against the Golden State Warriors on February 22, 1995, Robinson would be
forced to end his 461 iron man streak of consecutive games played for which he
started his career. This streak stands as a franchise record for the
Trailblazers. Robinson signed with the Phoenix Suns as
a free agent on August 25, 1997, where he remained for four more seasons. The
highlight of his tenure with the Suns was registering a career-best 50 points
against the Denver Nuggets on January 16, 2000. He became the oldest player at
33 years of age and two months to register his first 50-point game.
Robinson was traded to the Detroit Pistons on June 29, 2001 in exchange for
Jud Buechler and John Wallace. He was traded to the Golden State Warriors on
August 21, 2003, along with Pepe Sanchez, in exchange for Bob Sura.
Although he played all 82 games during the regular season, it would be the
first season in his career where he would not participate in the NBA
playoffs. On February 14, 2005, Golden State
traded Robinson to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for two second-round draft
picks. He was released by the Nets in July 2007. Robinson then retired.
Retrospective Robinson holds career NBA numbers of
14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.05 steals and 1.03 blocks. His 1,380 games played
are the 8th most all time in the NBA. and second among players eligible for
the 2015 Basketball Hall of Fame. At the end of the 2013-14 NBA Season, his
42,561 minutes played in the NBA ranked him 19th among all players, 14th among
retired players, and first among players eligible for the 2016 class of the
Basketball Hall of Fame. Robinson was one of only two players
drafted in the 1980s that was still active in the league in 2007, with the
other being Kevin Willis. He played in the NBA Playoffs in all but one of his
18 seasons in the league, with his 2003–04 campaign with the Golden State
Warriors being the exception. As of the 2014 NBA Playoffs, his 141 games rank
him 16th among inactive players not yet in the Hall of Fame, although he had a
low .393 field goal percentage and 2.1 Win Shares in those games.
At 6'10", he was the tallest player to make more than 1,000 three-pointers
until he was surpassed by Dirk Nowitzki and Rashard Lewis; Robinson made 1,253
threes in his career. Among players qualified for the 2015 Class of the
Basketball Hall of Fame, Robinson ranks fifth among all players for field goals
made and first among those 6'10" or taller.
= Post-NBA career = In 2014, Robinson was named to a team
assembled by Dennis Rodman as part of his "basketball diplomacy" effort in
North Korea with the job of playing an exhibition match against the North
Korean Senior National Team to celebrate the birthday of Kim Jong-un. The team
also included Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Sleepy
Floyd, Charles D. Smith and four streetballers.
NBA career statistics = Regular season =
= Playoffs = Suspensions
Robinson was arrested for marijuana possession and driving under the
influence in February 2001 and received a one-game suspension. Robinson was also
suspended five games in February 2005 while playing for Golden State, and was
suspended for five games during the NBA playoffs on May 12, 2006 for violating
terms of the league's drug policy for the second time in two seasons.
Personal life On September 21, 2003, Robinson married
Heather Lufkins on the island of Barbados. His son Isaiah Robinson plays
basketball for the Jefferson High School Democrats in Portland.
Survivor Robinson was a contestant on the 28th
installment of the American reality television series, Survivor. The theme
for the season was Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, and Robinson was placed on the
Brawn tribe, "Aparri." Although he did not initially plan to reveal his
identity, he was recognized by Yung "Woo" Hwang, who admitted to being a fan
of Robinson. Once his identity was revealed, he did not attempt to cover it
up. After a tribe swap, Trish Hegarty revealed her strong distaste for
Robinson and convinced fellow tribemate Tony Vlachos to vote with her to
eliminate him. He was the fifth contestant of the season to be voted
out, finishing in 14th place, while Vlachos went on to win the season and
Hwang was the runner-up. See also
List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders
List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
List of National Basketball Association career minutes played leaders
List of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players
Notes External links
Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com