It has been reported that over the weekend, on August 28th, NBA star Clifford Robinson lost his battle to lymphoma. “It’s really sad to hear of this, because he was one of my kids, my players, a guy I watched grow into a man,” former Huskies coach Jim Calhoun told The Associated Press. “It’s not an easy thing.”
Clifford Robinson was an American professional basketball player who played 18 seasons in the NBA. Selected in the second round of the 1989 NBA draft, he played the first eight seasons of his career with the Portland Trail Blazers, followed by stints with the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. Robinson received the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1993 and was selected as an NBA All-Star in 1994. He played college basketball for the UConn Huskies.
On September 21, 2003, Robinson married Heather Lufkins on the island of Barbados. His son Isaiah Robinson played basketball for the Jefferson High School Democrats in Portland and the Houston Baptist Huskies.
Robinson suffered a stroke in March 2017 that paralyzed the left side of his body, but he soon recovered much of his arm and leg movement. He had a tumor removed from his jaw in March 2018.
As of 2017, Robinson resided in the West Hills area of Portland, Oregon. In March 2019, he underwent surgery for cancer treatment. He died of lymphoma on August 29, 2020, at the age of 53.
Robinson is survived by his wife, Heather Lufkins, and son, Isaiah Robinson.
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