Posts for category ‘pervis ellison’

You remember David Wesley….former NBAer, longtime Hornet, one time speed racer (what, too soon?).

I was flipping around on whatever day it was….with basketball, they all run into each other…and evidently Baylor was playing against someone in some tournament…..probably NIT (is the CBI even on television? is it black-listed from MSMer and the blogworld alike?)…..and there was David Wesley: student manager.

Wesley needed 33 credits to graduate, so working on that physical education degree while watching basketball…..good for him.

Wesley never played for the Wizards, but is connected to several people who have:

• Wesley played with Nervous Pervis Ellison on the Celtics from 94-97.
• With Mugsy Bogues on the Charlotte Hornets in 97-98.
• With Doug Overton and Otis Thorpe on the 00-01 Charlotte Hornets.
• With Courtney Alexander and Robert Pack on the 02-03 New Orleans Hornets.
• With Lonny Baxter on the 04-05 NOLA Hornets (and later Houston Rockets)
• With Juwan Howard, Mike James, Tyron Lue and Rod Strickland on the 04-05 Rockets.
• And with Larry Hughes on the 06-07 Cavs.

The passing of Kevin Duckworth at only 44 years old should serve as yet another cautionary tale for the health of all Americans. Medical examiners have concluded that Duckworth died of “hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with congestive heart failure.” The initial report from The Oregonian indicated that Duckworth appeared to have gone into cardiac arrest, according to fire rescue officials on the scene.

We are all aware of the weigh problems Duckworth dealt with throughout his career and more so into his retirement. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy involves the thickening of the heart muscle, thought to be primarily caused by genetics, but could be affected by non-genetic factors. There is no definitive connection between Duckworth’s heart problems and being overweight, but an easy conclusion to make would be that the latter certainly did not help the former, especially since his high blood pressure played a role in his heart failure.

Memories of Duckworth have focused on his positive contributions, especially those of his days with the Portland Trailblazers, the team he was most associated with. True Hoop’s Henry Abbott and Wayne Thompson of Blazers.com will recall his performance in a Portland game 7 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2nd round of the 1990 NBA Playoffs. Current Blazers team president, Larry Miller, remembers Duckworth “as one of the warmest and biggest- hearted.” Duckworth was in Lincoln City, OR to host a free clinic for kids.

My memories will, of course, stem from Duckworth’s days as a Bullet. While the on-court recollections weren’t always fond, I do remember the big fella having a smile on his face, for the most part.

After sending notice of his death to a couple people, my friend Chris reminded me of the day we were on the court with Big Duck back in late ’93/early ’94 for a post-game clinic on the floor of the Capital Centre/USAir Arena.

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I was doing some cleaning around the apartment yesterday, working on a project for Father’s Day (Happy Father’s Day to my dad all the real dads out there) and came across a clipping from the Washington Times that my pops gave me just over three years ago.

“What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been,” was Tom Knott’s proclamation of purged bad karma for DC’s pro-basketball franchise just before game one against the Chicago Bulls in the ’05 NBA playoffs. It made me think, so much of that trip was spent bonding with my dad. We probably made the trek out to Landover, MD, and then downtown to Chinatown years later, at least 175 times together, witnessing years of futility and a lone playoff game pre-2005. To pass time with my father, to follow a hometown team together, it was all worth it.

I couldn’t help but get a chuckle out of Knott’s column. The long, strange trip continues and some would argue that Wizards fans still have not been exonerated of bad karma. Is this article to remind us how appreciative we should be for a four year playoff run, or have our expectations justifiably risen to the point where wanting more supersedes being spoiled by morsels of success?

The circus acts of yore are all featured: “Nervous” Pervis Ellison, Manute Bol, Boo-nard King (is that the best picture they had?), Mel Turpin, Rex Chapman (one of my all time favorites), Rod Strickland, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jerry Stackhouse, and finally Old Man Jordan.

Knott, in his typical pessimistic fashion (I’d be a hippocrite to blame him) recounts dysfunctional tales; head scratching gaffes from yesteryear which have become sources of present day comedy. The lead story of Pervis Ellison getting into an auto accident because of a DWIWGCF (driving while incapacitated with greasy chicken fingers) seems like the perfect jump-off point.

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