Kevin Duckworth

Kevin Jerome Duckworth (April 1, 1964 – August 25, 2008) was an American professional basketball player who played as center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A native of Illinois, he played college basketball for the Eastern Illinois Panthers before being selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the 1986 NBA draft. Before completing his rookie season with the Spurs, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers where he spent most of his six seasons and was named the NBA's Most Improved Player and a two-time All-Star. After playing with three more teams he retired in 1997 and returned to Oregon where he would later work for the Trail Blazers' organization.

Early life and career Duckworth was born in Harvey, Illinois, and grew up in Chicago, where he played basketball at Thornridge High School. At Thornridge, he participated in the 1980 and 1981 Illinois State Holiday Classic tournaments, which eventually became known as the State Farm Holiday Classic. Duckworth surpassed Cody Winter to become the greatest scorer in the event's history.

He attended Eastern Illinois University (EIU), where he set a university record of 867 rebounds, a record that still held at the time of his death. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Bob McCann during the 1995–96 season, missing most of the season due to injuries. He then played for the Los Angeles Clippers in 1996–97, after which he retired from professional basketball.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-retirement In 1996, Duckworth and Kermit Washington opened Le'Slam Sports Cafe in Vancouver, Washington. He settled in Tigard, Oregon, with his girlfriend Tala and her two children Aria and Beau.

He was a Heritage Ambassador for the Trail Blazers and was active in the community. He spent several years at the end of his life working at Royal Marine Sales, a small locally owned company where he bought and sold small yachts.

Death

Duckworth died of heart failure on August 25, 2008, in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. He collapsed in his hotel room, and emergency services were unable to revive him. His death was confirmed by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. Duckworth was in town as part of a Trail Blazers group hosting a free children's basketball clinic. An autopsy identified the cause of death as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure. He was 44.

Following his death, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oregon Community Foundation established a memorial scholarship in Duckworth's name for college and professional training for students in Oregon and Southwest Washington, the Portland Trail Blazers wore a memorial stripe on their jerseys and a patch on their warmups stitched with Duckworth's number ('00') during the 2008–09 season, and the Portland City Council renamed the L-shaped dock adjacent to the floating portion of Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade after Duckworth, calling it the Kevin J. Duckworth Memorial Dock. Led by the advocacy of Human Access Project, the city of Portland made a commitment in September 2017 to convert the Kevin J. Duckworth Memorial Dock to a fishing, swimming and non-motorized dock.