Clifford Robinson, who played 18 seasons with the NBA, has died at 53.
A cause of death has yet to be announced.
The forward/center, who was known as “Uncle Cliffy” played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors and the New Jersey Nets throughout his career. Cliff won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1993 and earned an NBA All-Star game nom in 1994.
Cliff began his career as a University of Connecticut Husky. After retiring from the sport in 2007, his “00” jersey was retired from the team during a “Huskies of Honor” ceremony.
Jim Calhoun, former head coach for the Huskies spoke to sports journalist David Borges on Cliff’s passing: “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.”
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
The 6′ 11″ all-star was drafted from UConn to the Portland Trailblazers where he helped the team go on to reach 2 NBA finals during his 8 seasons there.
The Trail Blazers organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Trail Blazers great Cliff Robinson. We extend our heartfelt condolences to Cliff’s family & loved ones. Uncle Cliffy will be greatly missed by the Trail Blazers & all of Rip City.https://t.co/X4ixK1XCPT pic.twitter.com/0njgpimiBH
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 29, 2020
After retiring, Cliff competed on the“Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty” season of “Survivor” in 2013 which took place in the Philippines. He ultimately would finish in 14th place.
A few years later, Cliff began to suffer a series of health issues. In 2017, he suffered a brain hemorrhage that left the left side of his body paralyzed. In 2018, Cliff had a tumor removed from his jaw, which turned out to be non-cancerous.