Kevin Duckworth
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 1, 1964 Washington Bullets |
| 1995–1996 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1996–1997 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
Points | 8,085 (11.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,945 (5.8 rpg) |
| Assists | 598 (0.9 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
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 at Eastern Illinois University before being drafted in 1986 in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs. 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.[1] 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
Professional career
Duckworth was the ninth pick in the 2nd round of the 1986 NBA draft, chosen by the San Antonio Spurs. Later that season, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for rookie Walter Berry.
His rookie season was unspectacular, as Duckworth came off the bench to back up center
The following season, Duckworth improved his averages to 18.1 points and 8.0 rebounds, and was named to the
The
Duckworth's production began to slip in
Duckworth played two seasons with the Bullets, where he struggled with weight problems. During the 1994–95 season, during which he was reported to weigh 310 lbs, he was suspended indefinitely for not staying in good physical condition.[2] 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
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986–87 | San Antonio
|
14 | 1 | 8.7 | .400 | .000 | .643 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.2 |
| 1986–87 | Portland
|
51 | 0 | 14.8 | .491 | .000 | .692 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 6.0 |
| 1987–88 | Portland
|
78 | 50 | 28.5 | .496 | .000 | .770 | 7.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 15.8 |
| 1988–89 | Portland
|
79 | 79 | 33.7 | .477 | .000 | .757 | 8.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 18.1 |
| 1989–90 | Portland
|
82 | 82 | 30.0 | .478 | .000 | .740 | 6.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 16.2 |
| 1990–91 | Portland
|
81 | 81 | 31.0 | .481 | .000 | .772 | 6.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 15.8 |
| 1991–92 | Portland
|
82 | 82 | 27.1 | .461 | .000 | .690 | 6.1 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 10.7 |
| 1992–93 | Portland
|
74 | 55 | 23.8 | .438 | .000 | .730 | 5.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 9.9 |
| 1993–94 | Washington
|
69 | 52 | 21.5 | .417 | .000 | .667 | 4.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 6.6 |
| 1994–95 | Washington
|
40 | 22 | 20.5 | .442 | .200 | .643 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 7.1 |
| 1995–96 | Milwaukee
|
8 | 1 | 7.3 | .214 | .000 | .500 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| 1996–97 | Los Angeles
|
26 | 22 | 14.8 | .437 | .750 | .688 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 4.0 |
| Career | 684 | 527 | 25.5 | .468 | .208 | .736 | 5.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 11.8 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1987
|
Portland
|
4 | 0 | 13.3 | .500 | .000 | .400 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
1988
|
Portland
|
4 | 4 | 37.8 | .486 | .000 | .783 | 11.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 21.5 |
1989
|
Portland
|
3 | 3 | 27.7 | .400 | .000 | .545 | 5.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 11.3 |
1990
|
Portland
|
15 | 15 | 30.2 | .439 | .000 | .717 | 5.8 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 13.1 |
1991
|
Portland
|
16 | 16 | 31.9 | .401 | .000 | .732 | 6.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 11.7 |
1992
|
Portland
|
21 | 21 | 30.8 | .495 | .000 | .660 | 5.6 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 11.9 |
1993
|
Portland
|
4 | 0 | 14.5 | .333 | .000 | 1.000 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 4.5 |
| Career | 67 | 59 | 29.2 | .447 | .000 | .702 | 5.9 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 11.7 | |
Post-retirement
In 1996, Duckworth and
, 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.[5]
Death
Duckworth died of
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,[7] 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,[8] 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.[9][10] 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.[11][12][13]
References
- ^ a b c "EIU Legend Kevin Duckworth Passes Away". Eastern Illinois University. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
- ^ "DUCKWORTH SUSPENDED". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020.
- ^ "Le'Slam Sports Cafe". The Columbian. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
- ^ Duckworth, a 1997 photo of Duckworth at his sports bar, from The Oregonian via Flickr
- ^ Crombie, Noelle (December 11, 2007). "Fishing with Kevin Duckworth". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
- ^ Crombie, Noelle (August 26, 2008). "Former Trail Blazer Kevin Duckworth dies". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
- ^ "Trail Blazers and the Oregon Community Foundation Establish Kevin Duckworth Community Scholarship". trailblazers.com.
- ^ "Duckworth honored with memorial jersey stripe".
- ^ "Duck-Worthy Dock To Get New Name".
- ^ Kevin J. Duckworth Memorial Dock
- ^ Ault, Trevor (September 13, 2017). "Duckworth Dock may be converted for swimming". KOIN. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ "Willamette River boosters want to turn Duckworth Dock into a recreational nexus". bizjournals.com. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ "READY, SET, SWIM". Landscape Architecture Magazine. December 14, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
External links
- NBA.com profile
- Statistics at basketball-reference.com
- Remembering Kevin Duckworth as a Washington Bullet Archived December 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine at truthaboutit.net