Former NBA All-Star Cliff Robinson Re-Emerges as ‘Uncle Spliffy’

NBA Star, Cliff Robinson, is rebranding himself as a cannabis advocate and prospective business owner. Robinson played 18 seasons in the NBA for the Trail Blazers, Suns, Pistons, Warriors and Nets, and was selected as an All-Star in 1994. After his basketball career, “Uncle Cliffy” also competed on the CBS reality show Survivor.

Robinson is known in Oregon for basketball, where he played 8 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, but now he wants to cash in on the local legal cannabis industry. “I think we definitely have to continue looking into cannabis and the benefits that it has, the health benefits that it has, because I think it’s come leaps and bounds,” Robinson told KOIN.

Robinson is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Cannabis Collaborative Conference in Portland on February 3 and February 4 at the Portland Expo Center. 2,500 attendees will hear Robinson speak about his plans to open up a grow operation in Oregon.

“It’s an opportunity for me to get out there and tell people a little bit about myself outside of basketball,” Robinson said. “People in Oregon know me as a basketball player, but I want to distill the stigma around cannabis, the misperception that athletes and cannabis are incompatible.” In 2006, Robinson was suspended from the NBA for testing positive for cannabis. “There are a lot of things that have to fall into place before” cannabis is accepted in the NBA,” Robinson said. “We can continue to break down the walls of the issue.”

He plans on having products ready by the end of the year. “Oregon has always been known for good cannabis, and it’s an exciting time to be here,” he said. “I’m excited to be part of a team that’s doing it the right way.” Robinson is looking into transforming his cannabis material into topicals and rubs, to further the importance of cannabis use for athletes, and overall health and physical well being for active individuals.