Nets: Jason Kidd pays tribute to former Net Cliff Robinson after untimely passing

Nets legend Jason Kidd paid tribute to the late Cliff Robinson.

The NBA community was collectively heartbroken on Saturday when news broke that confirmed the passing of Cliff Robinson, who played a whopping 18 seasons in the league.

The former longtime Portland Trail Blazer was just 53 years old, and his family confirmed that he’d succumbed to a year-long battle with lymphoma. After averaging over 16 points per game and totaling 3,352 rebounds with Portland from 1989-97, Robinson eventually made his way to the then-New Jersey Nets to close out his career.

Though Robinson was far past his prime and didn’t exactly post great numbers upon arriving in NJ, it’s clear he left a lasting impact on the franchise as Nets legend Jason Kidd took to social media to pay tribute to his former teammate.

This was a classy gesture from Kidd, who played alongside Robinson on the Nets from 2004 to 2007, and we would expect nothing less. The former All-Star appeared in 159 games (14 starts) in three seasons with New Jersey, averaging 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds on 40.1% shooting during that span.

Again, Robinson’s time with the Nets was nothing to write home about, but his numbers don’t come close to telling the whole story in terms of his presence in the locker room and how much his teammates respected him.

The loss of “Uncle Cliff” just adds on to the unrelenting bearer of bad news that is 2020, and much like Kidd did in his heartfelt tweet, we send our sincerest condolences to his loved ones as they try to reckon with his untimely passing.

One of the original stretch bigs, Robinson made his mark everywhere, from UConn to Portland to the television show Survivor, but never forget his stop at the Meadowlands. Nets icon Jason Kidd sure didn’t forget his time spent with the big man.