Hey! Whatever Happened To: Kevin Duckworth
Why you might remember him: Kevin Jerome Duckworth, or “Duck” to his teammates was the center on those early 90’s Portland Trailblazer squads, twice making the NBA All-Star team. He was huge and was the predecessor to the trend of “ridiculously huge NBA centers”, standing 7’0”, 275 in his Blazer days. The nifty thing about Kevin’s game was the ability to draw opposing centers out of the lane to guard him, so Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and the rest of the Blazers could control the lane on offense. He did this via a peculiar, one handed jump/hook shot that became his trademark during his glory days. Coming out of Eastern Illinois in the 1986 draft, he was alongside other star big men in Brad Daugherty, the troubled Roy Tarpley, Dennis Rodman and others, but was traded from the Spurs (after they landed some David Robinson guy). During Kevin’s All Star years, he averaged about 18pts, 9 boards a game.
Why you probably forgot him: The weight issue got to him. Right after being traded to the Bullets for (their leading scorer) Harvey Grant, I remember him showing up for Bullets’ training camp weighing at around 375. There were stories published in the Washington Post of people shaking their heads in disgust at him as he loaded box after box of chocolate chip cookies into his basket. Ater frustrating Bullets’ management, he went on to play for Milwaukee (the green alternate jersey edition) and the Clippers before retiring in 1997.
Brian, you’re a wild dude….lol
great job Brian! The Portland Oregonian found out about this story and found some more info on Duck.
http://blazers.blogs.oregonlive.com/default.asp?item=165976
Sadly, Kevin Duckworth passed away in Lincoln City, Oregon.
8-26-08,Very sad news,Duck” Kevin Duckworth,Has passed away at age 44,Of at this time unknown causes,I suspect heart problems,due to weighing 400 or more pounds,Please everyone,take more stock in your health,this is too young of an age to just slip away,and my condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends.R.I.P.”Duck”.
R.I.P Duck!
Kevin Duckworth died yesterday on 8/25/08. R.IP.
He passed away yesterday. R.I.P. Duck.
May he rest in peace.
Kevin Duckworth, 1964-2008
by The Oregonian Editorial Board Tuesday August 26, 2008, 3:49 PM
The Oregonian / 1996
Kevin Duckworth leading a Special Olympics basketball clinic in Beaverton in 1996.
The Trail Blazers and The Oregonian sports page (here and here) have sites paying tribute to Kevin Duckworth. Here’s our editorial remembering the big man.
Kevin Duckworth, 1964-2008
AÂnybody who lived in Portland in May 1990 remembers the surge of elation that followed the emergence of a 300-pound man from the Trail Blazers’ locker room.
It was Game 7 of a playoff series against the formidable San Antonio Spurs. The Blazers had managed to reach the final game without their big man, Kevin Duckworth, who had broken a bone in his hand three weeks earlier and hadn’t played since.
The doctors told him he couldn’t play for three more days. But he came to the arena vowing to talk his way onto the floor. When Duckworth trotted out, the fans in the Memorial Coliseum erupted. “I’ve never heard the fans sound so loud,” he said.
The Blazers won in overtime. It was the start of a terrific run for Duckworth, Jerome Kersey, Terry Porter, Buck Williams, Clyde Drexler and the rest — a run that led to the construction of the Rose Garden and a permanent expectation that the team would play deep into the postseason.
But Duckworth, who died of apparent heart failure Monday on the Oregon coast, where he was to host a free clinic, was more than a valuable basketball player. He was a big, sensitive man who happened to have a sweet, short jumper.
He avoided scandal and spoke warmly of his friends and teammates. He was gracious with fans, who were saddened when he was traded away. But he never really left. He made Oregon his home and spent a lot of time in his wood shop or on the water, pulling fish from Northwest streams and lakes. Home won’t be the same without him. Â
I became friends with Kevin when I first moved to Portland and it seems poetic he died from a oversized heart. He was a very big man but if you knew him you could see his heart was even bigger than his body. Kevin truely was one of the best guys a man could ever know. We should all be so lucky to know a man like this in each of our lives.
I’ll miss you, Kevin.
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