Скачать или смотреть Kevin Duckworth's Death A Grave Warning to Former Players

Duckworth was a hard, worker whose dominance and perseverance on the court was matched only by his kindness and charity off the court. Truly, Duck was somebody who you can find yourself cheering for even if you're not a fan of his team.

Losing any player who you found yourself cheering for can be difficult. This is especially true considering the circumstances under which we lost Duck.


Duckworth's case is one that has become more and more common as years pass—former professional athletes unable to take care of their bodies following retirement, and often paying the ultimate price.


It can be easy to understand how athletes let themselves go following their playing career. From grade school to seasoned veterans, they train, diet, exercise, and work tirelessly to reach their goals. Once they call their career quits, they are free to be regular people. And by regular people, I mean not having to work out daily and not sticking to a strict diet and exercise regimen.

This is understandable. Players bust their humps for decades, and once their goals are fulfilled, it's reasonable that they would want to take it easy. However, doing this to an excessive degree can prove to be deadly—as Duckworth has shown.

In retirement, former players don't have to display the same strict commitment they have during their playing days, but staying active and continuing to eat healthy can prevent such deaths.

We as fans put players up on pedestals and look to them as super-humans—but in retirement, they prove to have the same weaknesses as we do, and the obligations they adhere to during their playing days become non-existent. Duckworth's passing is just one of many that could be prevented so long as former players can find a balance between active and retired life.