His Name Won’t Be Forgotten as Long as This Guy Is Playing

Former USC star and Philadelphia 76er Cliff Robinson runs Cliff’s Night Club & Cafe in Berkeley while recovering from knee surgery. But Robinson, 30, doesn’t feel totally detached from the NBA.

“I’ve got a TV here in my club, and we were open for happy hour, and I’m laying back watching the local news,” Robinson said. “It was Chicago against Portland, in Portland, and they’re showing the highlights.

“The guy says Michael Jordan does such-and-such, and now Portland has the ball, and (Clyde) Drexler throws it to so-and-so, who throws it to Cliff Robinson, the Bay Area’s own, and he slams it through!”

“I said to my son, ‘This guy sure keeps my name alive if nothing else.’ It was really weird. It was like I was watching a ghost on TV or something.”

The Trail Blazers’ Cliff Robinson is a rookie from the University of Connecticut.

Trivia time: The Lakers have three starters on the Western Conference All-Star team. When was the last time that both conferences had three starters from one team?

Life in the fast lane: K.C. Jones, assistant coach for the Seattle SuperSonics, on the pressures facing high-paid rookies in the NBA: “It’s like you win the lottery for $2 million. The money comes to you and what happens? All the salesmen in the world come up to you and want to sell you everything they’ve got; here come the cocaine guys, here come all the women, the cars, the parties.

“It’s very difficult to deal with all that. You have to keep that stuff in perspective and keep your feet on the ground. Immaturity is found out quickly in this league.”

Work is never done: Gene Littles of the Charlotte Hornets, on his duties as coach: “In the NBA, you do everything, even when you coach. You scout as a coach. You’re an administrator, you have to budget. You might have the title of one position but you do a combination of things. When you sign a contract it might read in bold ‘assistant coach’ or ‘director of personnel.’ But there’s always that small print that says ‘and other related duties.’ ”

Turn the page: Calvin Murphy, who made an NBA-record 78 consecutive free throws during the 1980-81 season, is candid about his feelings toward the Boston Celtics’ Larry Bird, who has made 68 in a row.

“I don’t want Larry Bird to break my record. That’s my legacy to my son,” Murphy said. “When you look in the Guinness Book of World Records and see your face there, that’s a nice feeling.”

Talk like an Egyptian: Jerry Reynolds, the Sacramento Kings’ director of player personnel, on the Lakers’ Magic Johnson: “When I first heard about him in college as a 6-9 point guard, I said, ‘Oh, b.s. You’re saying he’s a point guard, but he really isn’t.’ Then I saw him, and he really was a point guard. It was like seeing the Pyramids for the first time.”

Add Magic: John Stockton of the Utah Jazz, who leads the NBA in assists, on Johnson: “If every team could find a Magic, all of us 6-footers would be out of the league.”

Nice place to visit: Washington Bullet center Mel Turpin on playing for Zaragoza of Spain last season: “It was good to see that part of the world, but I couldn’t take it for two years. There are some teams that take care of their American players, but I wasn’t on one of them.”

Single-minded: Dave Pritchett, scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves, told Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis: “People say I’m different. If that means getting out of the bed in the morning thinking about basketball, and falling asleep at night thinking about basketball, they’re right.”

Cornered market: Buck Williams on being traded by the New Jersey Nets to the Portland Trail Blazers: “In Portland, we’re the only game in town. The players are revered. My family is treated like royalty.”

Sticky situation: Dick Motta, coach of the Sacramento Kings, on owning the Bluebird Candy Co. of Logan, Utah: “They really are great candies. But running that operation makes basketball look almost simple.”

Trivia answer: In 1977, the Philadelphia 76ers had Julius Erving, George McGinnis and Doug Collins, while the Denver Nuggets had Bobby Jones, David Thompson and Dan Issel.

Quotebook: Golden State Warrior guard Sarunas Marciulionis on his first NBA season: “Life in America is no problem. I can give more energy to basketball here. In Lithuania it takes a lot of energy to get things, like food.”