My most abiding memory of Cliffy was his headbands - he wore one when they were considered super un-cool (the kind of thing old white guys wore at the Y). But the fans loved it, and in particular I seem to recall watching Cliffy go into a game and put on his headband, and an old white couple sitting near the court put headbands on at the same time in a show of fandom. Did I dream this?
I still remember him shutting down David Robinson in a playoff series that we won against Spurs. Seems like it was very early in his career.
RIP Cliff The early 90 Blazers squad was amazing. They just happened to play against the greatest player of all time
It was his rookie year. Duck had injured his hand and Buck had injured his eye (which led to him wearing goggles full-time) in Game 3 against Dallas in the First Round. Wayne Cooper also had to miss some time during the series with San Antonio as well, so Cliff stepped up and helped us advance! Cliff held David Robinson to 9 points on 3-11 shooting in Game 1 of that series. He started the first six games until Duck miraculously returned for G7.
These passings hurt. A fun part of my early 20s was running into Cliff, Jerome, and Duck at the different clubs in downtown Portland. They were always cool and approachable.
Around the time the Blazers played Chicago in the NBA Finals, around 91-92, Uncle Cliffy was visiting some of his family at the house directly across the street from where I lived in NE by Concordia, back before gentrification. We ran across the street for autographs but didn't have any pens or anything for him to sign so we ran back to the house real quick. This was not too long after my birthday so I grabbed my birthday card off of the fireplace mantle, ran back across, and Uncle Cliff signed my birthday card. I'll never forget it, he was so nice to us and chatted with us for like 10 minutes. He meant alot to Portland and the TrailBlazers, he will be missed. R.I.P Cliff Robinson.