SECAUCUS, N.J., Aug. 26, 2008 -- Kevin Duckworth, a two-time All-Star who played for five teams, most famously with the Portland Trail Blazers, during his 11-year NBA career has died in Gleneden Beach, Ore., where he was representing the Trail Blazers on a 19-city summer tour. He was 44. Kevin Duckworth was the 10th leading scorer (7,188) and rebounder (3,327) in Portland history. Duckworth was a key member of Portland's Finals teams in 1990 and 1992, as he started at center for the Trail Blazers in 402 of the 410 regular season games in his first five seasons with the team. At 7-0, 275, Duckworth was one of the bigger players in the league at the time (we had not seen the likes of a Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming). And while he was anchor in the paint, Duckworth's size never seemed to be a millstone around the collective neck of the lithe and speedy (Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Clifford Robinson to name a few) Trail Blazers. Duckworth averaged 15.3 points and 6.9 boards per game in his first five Blazers seasons.
