Dock to be renamed in honor of Kevin Duckworth

PORTLAND, Ore. - Five months after his unexpected death, former Trail Blazer Kevin Duckworth is getting a permanent place along the Willamette River.

A floating platform currently known as the Convention Center Dock will be renamed in his honor - a fitting tribute for a man who was an avid outdoorsman.

"To have something named for him in downtown Portland - he loved the outdoors, he loved to fish and that's going to be there in his name forever," said Bill Schonely, who was the voice of the Trail Blazers from 1970 to 1997.

The new name will be the 'Kevin J. Duckworth Memorial Dock.'

Kevin Duckworth died last year at the age of 44 while on a Trail Blazers goodwill tour.  He passed away while at the Oregon coast for a basketball clinic.

Duckworth played seven years for the Blazers, along with the likes of Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Buck Williams and Jerome Kersey. Twice, he appeared in All-Star games, and twice the team won the Western Conference title.

In retirement, he remained in the Portland area, doing woodwork, fishing and hunting. He ran a construction company in Northern California for a time. A restaurant venture in Vancouver, Wash., with former NBA player Kermit Washington went out of business.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)