There are now multiple reports confirming the same sad news.
Kevin Duckworth, a two-time All-Star who was the starting center on the Portland Trail Blazer teams that made it to the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals, has died of unknown causes.
The seven-foot center played in the NBA from 1986-1997. Most of those years he was in Portland, although at the end of his career he played for the Bullets, Bucks, and Clippers.
Duckworth was reportedly at the Oregon coast for an event to promote the Blazers when he died. Duckworth was 44.
I'll always remember Duckworth for his starring role in the most exciting basketball game I
have ever seen in person: Portland's come-from-behind Game 7 win over Larry Brown, David Robinson, Rod Strickland, and the San Antonio Spurs in the second-round of the 1990 playoffs.
Wayne Thompson remembers that game on Blazers.com:
The rest of the team was already warming up for the decisive seventh game, but few of the 12,884 fans had any inkling that Duckworth, who already had missed the last three weeks of Portland's magical 1990 season, was going to play.
When the fans saw Duckworth, they just exploded with a standing ovation that lasted a full two minutes.
It was a scene reminiscent of the seventh game of the 1970 NBA championship when New York fans became delirious at the sight of Willis Reed who, despite a severe ankle sprain, limped into Madison Square Garden to help the Knicks win the championship against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Duckworth played in that game against doctor's orders, and while his stat line proved to be average, he managed to make things extremely difficult for Robinson, helping Portland keep things close. Portland found themselves down seven in the closing minutes, but made a late and thrilling run to send the game to overtime, where they were able to secure a crucial victory on the road to the Finals.
It is one of the great moments of Blazer history, and in part because of that Duckworth remained a figure beloved by Blazer fans. After his playing days, the Illinois native settled permanently in the Portland area and continued to be a major and unmistakable presence -- a man who battled weight issues throughout his playing days, he was literally larger than ever in retirement. Despite his size, Duckworth was not at all intimidating off the court, exuding smiling harmlessness at Blazer games and other team-centric public events.
He will be missed.
(Photo: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
