With the news that Kevin Duckworth has passed away at the young age of 44, I happened to think of when his name found its way into the Mitchell Report. There was a cashed check that Duckworth made out to former New York Mets clubhouse guy Kirk Radomski, but Duckworth himself was never implicated...probably because he was a former NBA player and had nothing to do with baseball. From the stories coming out today, Duckworth was very involved with the Blazers as an ambassador type so he wasn't exactly a recluse like other former athletes.

So on this day when a 44-year-old former athlete dies, it kinda makes you think. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this in the future, but we might be in for another tale of the effects of what drug use can do to someone long-term.

Josh Nason started Small White Ball in 2007 and is the main contributor of content for the site. A long-time writer, his work can also be read at sites like RopesRingandCage.com, EmailMarketingGuy.com and others. He also does radio appearances and was on TV once, albeit for a lame public television game show. He can be reached at josh@smallwhiteball.com.