Kevin Duckworth has died

Wow - Duckworth has died at age 44:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3553879

No real details...

I know... very sad. We lost a good one today. Here's the best tribute to him I can think of: "When a Duckworth pass hit me right in the face!" And then they start spraying silly string on each other. Amazing.



Sometimes I feel like people forget how good he was during that 88-92 stretch. He missed only seven games over that entire stretch, was a two time all-star, and averaged 15.8, 18.1, 16.2, 15.8 points over those years. And he was young too: 23-26 years old. A lot of people view him as the weak link from those teams (I always hear people say "If only we had Sabonis then"), but really... he was a very good player in his own right. I always liked Duckworth (I had a poster of him with Manute Bol in my room growing up) and I am sad to see him go.

But even more than just playing for the Blazers, he really embraced the state of Oregon and settled here after his playing days. He volunteered a ton, loved to hunt and fish, and just lived a quiet life on a farm out in Tigard. He was definitely nostalgic for his Blazer days and would always come to team functions and stuff like that. I remember he had a really interesting/funny/poignant interview on The Fan a few years ago where he told some stories about the team back then and his role on it and what he's up to now. Just a good guy all around.

I was shocked to hear that this morning. Rest in peace, Duck.

+1 for finding that video! I got chills. It's scary to think I remember most of the words.

Man, those were the days, when the city was totally in love with the team and the players loved being here. What really excites me about the Blazers we have now is that we have some really likeable guys, kind of like we had back then.

Side note: I had the jacket Clyde's wearing. Seriously.

there's a nice compilation of reactions by Kerry Eggers from several players and folks in the Blazer organization in the Tribune

The last quote was from former Blazer Steve Johnson.

“It just goes to show,” Johnson said, “that no one is promised tomorrow.”

That was one of Clives trademark sayings.

Sure, I would have loved having a young, healthy Sabonis on those teams. We certainly would have won a title or three with him at center.

That said, "Duck" is one of my favorite Blazers of all-time. (And I go back to
Day 1, 38 full seasons ago.)

I grew to love his game, and the way he brought opposing centers out of the middle because they had to respect his jumper, which of course opened the door for the slashing games of Drexler and Kersey, the great rebounding of Buck and the clutch 3-point shooting of Terry Porter.

What a wonderful young man. I simply swooned over his interviews because he was at once both genuine and honest, but at the same time always so doggone funny!

A great human spirit that touched this state dearly has passed on.

ESPN the Mag

Great video