Sad news out of Portland this morning, as former Trail Blazer and two-time NBA All-Star Kevin Duckworth has passed away at the age of 44. The cause of death is unknown at this time.Duckworth was a member of the Blazers from 1986-1993, and was a fan favorite who played a substantial role on two Blazers' Western Conference Championship teams in 1990 and 1992. Blazers' fan Henry Abbott of TrueHoop shares this fond memory of the Blazers' big man:
I'll always remember Duckworth for his starring role in the most exciting basketball game I have ever seen in person: Portland's come-from-behind Game 7 win over Larry Brown, David Robinson, Rod Strickland, and the San Antonio Spurs in the second-round of the 1990 playoffs.Duckworth remained active in the Portland community, and in fact "was on the Oregon Coast representing the Trail Blazers as a Heritage Ambassador" when this occurred. He will certainly be missed.
Duckworth played in that game against doctor's orders, and while his stat line proved to be average, he managed to make things extremely difficult for Robinson, helping Portland keep things close. Portland found themselves down seven in the closing minutes, but made a late and thrilling run to send the game to overtime, where they were able to secure a crucial victory on the road to the Finals.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Saw this this morning and sad to see it.
Those Portland teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s are highly underrated. They ran into experienced Pistons and Lakers teams early on ... and then the buzzsaw Bulls in '92.
Duckworth really let himself go over the past few years (I think he was around 400 lbs) ... but seemed to be a great guy and was still doing good things in the community as you said.
My prayers are with his family.