Portland Trail Blazers: 30 greatest players in franchise history
By Ben Beecken
- Played eight seasons with Trail Blazers (1989-97)
- Averaged 16.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game
- 1x All-Star with Trail Blazers
Clifford Robinson, or Cliff, as he was lovingly known as, started his career with the Trail Blazers as a second-round draft pick in 1989.
He played in every single game as a rookie, averaging 19.1 minutes and 9.1 points per game. In year two, Robinson bumped his scoring average to 11.7 per game. In year three, another incremental bump to 12.4 points per game, as his playing time increased ever so slightly.
Over the course of Robinson’s first three years, the Trail Blazers lost in the NBA Finals twice and the Western Conference Finals once with coach Rick Adelman at the helm. The team was consistently good enough to do damage deep into the playoffs, but couldn’t quite get over that massive hump that is winning an NBA title.
In 1992-93, Robinson broke out in a big way, scoring 19.1 points per game and averaging 6.6 rebounds. He did most of his damage off the bench. Robinson didn’t become a regular starter until the following season, when he made his first and only All-Star team as a 27-year-old, while putting up 20.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
In the mid-1990s, the Blazers reverted to doing their thing: having an above-.500 regular season but falling in the first round of the playoffs. After the 1993-94 campaign, Adelman was replaced as head coach by P.J. Carlesimo, but things didn’t get any better.
The team won 44 games in the first year under Carlesimo, although Robinson’s per-game averaged continued to tick upwards slightly. After the 1996-97 campaign, Robinson signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns. He played four years in the desert before bouncing to the Detroit Pistons, the Golden State Warriors, and the then New Jersey Nets.
Robinson played until he was 40 years old and did not retire until after the 2006-07 season with the Nets.