Subscribe Feed (RSS)Kevin Duckworth is dead at 44. More details. Kerry Eggers does a great job of pulling together reaction from Duck’s former teammates.
It’s a sad day in Blazer land.
He was one of my all-time favorite players to cover for a variety of reasons. Because of his weight, he was often a target of fans and I don’t know if too many people understood how much those taunts hurt him. At times he was very open with his feelings with me and we developed a bond over the years. Kevin Duckworth was just a big kid and his feelings were easily hurt — by coaches, teammates and players. He was sensitive, and I found something very human and endearing about that.
He had a great sense of humor, loved to laugh and didn’t have a mean bone in his big body.
When he was in shape, and when he was at the top of his game, he was a very, very talented player who twice played in the All-Star Game. Man, in the low block with deft footwork he was able to beat you with either hand. Then he developed that medium-range jump shot that made the pick-and-pop a Blazer staple.
A lot of people have pointed to that Game 7 playoff contest against San Antonio, when Duck pulled that Willis Reed act, as his most memorable performance. But Kevin didn’t play a huge role in the outcome of that game. I’ll remember a playoff game at Phoenix in 1992, when Portland took a 3-1 edge in the series with a 153-151 double-overtime win over the Suns.
Duckworth stole the spotlight from Clyde Drexler, who had earlier that day been named to the Dream Team, by scoring eight points in the second overtime, including four free throws inside the final 43.6 seconds. With the pressure on — usually reliable Terry Porter missed four of his six foul shots in the overtime periods — Duckworth never flinched.
“My biggest moment in basketball,” he said after the game, flashing a wide smile. “You know how you felt after you had your first kid? This is it for me. This is the best so far.”
I had seen Kevin several times over the last couple of years and I know he was delighted that the new regime with the Trail Blazers saw fit to include him in many of the team’s activities. He was starting to come out of his shell, which was built of shyness. And I think he was coming to grips with a bit of depression, which had fueled his eating habits.
He’s gone too soon and it’s a big, big loss.
No doubt Duckworth was one of the all-time greats, both as a Blazer and as an Oregon resident. He’ll be missed.
And I think he was coming to grips with a bit of depression, which had fueled his eating habits.
Man, that’ll do it. Such a vicious cycle.
Best summary yet.
The heavens are a brighter place after today.
A Man he was but a Giant he will be remembered. Not for what he did on the court, but for what he did off of it. Few and far between are people with other peoples best interests at heart. The “Duck” was one of those people.
This World loss is only God’s gain, as he will appriciate every last bit of our Kevin Duckworth.
My prayers and thoughts are for his family tonight.
Unfortunately (and unfairly) he beared a good portion of the brunt for the Blazers never being able to get over the hump and win the NBA title in the early ’90s. For as good as he was, he never was quite good enough to be what the Blazers needed at center to eclipse the Bulls and the Lakers. That was not his fault at all — as a matter of fact, up until the ‘92 season he regularly exceeded expectations, and played with passion and heart. That’s what I’ll remember him for, giving it his all in what wasn’t always an ideal situation for him.
I remember both those games, but especially the ‘Willis Reed’ moment and that sheepish, almost embarrased look on his face. He was a great cog on those special teams. Happy Trails Duck.
R.I.P. Duck.
You have been sorely missed since you left the public spotlight, and you will be missed even more now that you are gone. Thank you for all the great memories and for becoming such a great ambassador for the Portland TrailBlazers and the great state of Oregon.
I moved to Portland in ‘90 and was around for a good part of the Duckworth era. I always loved the guy. Not only was he a great player, but he seemed like a genuine person. I was pretty surprised a year or two ago to see how big he had gotten and was really glad he was out in the public eye representing the team and city he loved so much.
I think a retired jersey might be a bit much for Duck, but we and the Blazers really need to recognize the man and his accomplishments both on and (especially) off the court. I have heard the idea of a Duck day, community service award (the biggest little award in the NBA) or wearing a 00 patch. I put my two cents in for the creation of the Duck Pond, and area of seats somewhere in the Rose Garden with a large 00 painted into the seats. Possible even taking out seats at the corners of the 0s to round it off. Too bad my two cents would cost the Blazers a bit more than that in lost seat revenue…
Thanks for bringing back the memory of the 2OT Phoenix game. What struck me about that game was that Duckworth was usually on the bench late in games and Cliff Robinson would play center for defensive purposes and to pull the opposing center out farther when the Blazers were on offense. And it seems like Duck got bummed out every time that Adelman would yank him late in the game. So the fact that Duckworth was able to make a huge difference at that late point in the game (Cliff and Buck both fouled out in that game) must have been extra satisfying for him.
They should definitely wear a patch or something this year to honor Duckworth.
My thought and prayers go out to Duck and his family. A tragic loss, way too soon…
Thought”s” and prayers, sorry.
Growing up in the 90’s and just getting into basketball; you would always hear about Duckworth..I would always think that his name was so weird. An overall good guy and gone too soon…RIP Duck