Kim Hughes obit

Former Trail Blazers Assistant Kim Hughes Passes Away

The NBA loses a former player and coach. 

He was not on the list.

Former Portland Trail Blazers assistant Kim Hughes has passed away at the age of 73. The news came via the Instagram account of former Blazers center Meyers Leonard who wrote the following remembrance:

You were like a father. You were my coach. You loved me unconditionally. You pushed me, but always followed up with an arm around me. You taught me about basketball, but more importantly, about life. You were a great father and husband, and that’s what I admired most about you. I’ve never seen someone deal with so much heartache and pain, yet you never complained, and always found a way through. You were a straight shooter and as truthful as it gets, yet you knew how to love and protect me. It’s hard to believe you’re gone, and I love you so much Kim Hughes.

I will never forget the day that we had yesterday. We talked man to man, and really, more like father to son. We laughed, we talked about all of our amazing memories together, you ate a little of your favorite foods, you had a smile on your face that I’ll never forget, and we just simply spent quality time with your family. When I helped lay you down for bed last night, I didn’t think it would be my last time ever talking to you. We gave each other a big hug, which almost felt to me like every last bit of strength you had. We met eye to eye and I told you that I loved you so much and that I would see you again in the morning. You told me you loved me so much, and that God willing, I would see you again in the morning. Man.. what I would do to tell you that I love you just one last time.

I promise to carry on your memory. I promise that some day my two boys will know about Kim Hughes, when they’re old enough to understand. I promise to be there for your wife and children, just as you would for me, if roles were reversed for you and I right now.

If I had to bet, Jim Leonard has already found his way to you, and surely gave you a big hug for looking after me. They always tell me he was the most kind and gentle man. Tall and handsome too. Just like you. Go figure. Thank you for everything. Love you always and forever Kim ❤️💔❤️

Hughes played for the then New Jersey Nets, the Denver Nuggets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA after spending a year with the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association. He served as an assistant coach for the Trail Blazers from 2012 to 2015. He was famously fired by then lead executive Neil Olshey for unintentionally leaking the news that free agent LaMarcus Aldridge was leaving the team when Olshey had claimed otherwise publicly.

Blazer’s Edge offers condolences and all our thoughts to the family and friends of Kim Hughes at their time of loss.

Kim grew nine inches at the end of his sophomore year at Freeport, going from a point guard to a center. He averaged 15.5 points as a senior, leading Freeport to the sectional championship.  Kim and his twin brother, Kerry, continued their careers at Wisconsin, where Kim averaged a double-double all three seasons of his varsity eligibility. He was team MVP as a junior and senior. He played in the ABA and NBA from 1975-81 and in Italy from 1981-89.

The 6-foot-11 Hughes played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin from 1971 to 1974, averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds as a senior. His identical twin, Kerry, also 6–11, was also a starter on the Badgers.[1] Hughes was selected by the Buffalo Braves in the third round (ninth pick) of the 1974 NBA draft; immediately, he played professionally in Italy during the 1974–75 season for Olimpia Milano. He spent the 1975–76 season with the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association (ABA), where he averaged eight points and nine rebounds and was named to the First Team ABA All-Rookie Team. The 1976 Nets team, which featured Julius Erving, Swen Nater, Larry Kenon and Brian Taylor, won the ABA championship.

it all started with a growth spurt that transformed Kim Hughes from a point guard into a center, even more dramatically than the way Lakers All-Star center Anthony Davis went from a 6-2 point guard to 6-10 in 18 months.

“We certainly grew out of our clothes,” Hughes said. “Dad always told us, ‘You guys will get taller because you will grow into your feet. And we also always had really big hands. Common sense told us our bodies would fill out. But as other teammates and friends grew and we didn’t, we were worried. Everyone wants to be taller. We hoped we would grow, but it is not something you have control of.”

When they did finally sprout, they grew so fast they had to make sure they didn’t put any more pressure on their bodies — especially their legs — than necessary.

“We did straight leg lifts where you don’t bend your knee,” Hughes said. “It was too painful to move our knee at all. We’d sit on the floor or the couch with five pounds on our ankle and elevate it to 8 or 10 inches to strengthen our quadriceps without infringing on the integrity of the joint, which was painful. We didn’t know if we could play sports. We certainly couldn’t play with that kind of pain and swelling. There was no way.”

As seniors, the twins could play. Now 6-8, they had solid, if unspectacular, senior seasons in 1970. Kim averaged 15.5 points and made first team all-conference. Kerry averaged 12.5 points. Together they led the Pretzels to a second-place finish in the league, one game behind Auburn at 13-3.

The Hughes twins still kept a somewhat low profile. Their only scholarship offer at the end of their senior season was from Lamar, coached by Billy Tubbs, who would go on to win 333 games in 14 years at Oklahoma.

“Because nobody knew who we were, recruiting started really late,” Hughes said. “Billy Tubbs tried to recruit us to Lamar. That wasn’t a great university. I liked Billy and the athletic facilities were fine, but I wasn’t interested in the side benefits other than the full scholarship.”

Does that mean the twins were offered money under the table?

“What I am saying is all colleges cheat,” Hughes said. “That’s unfortunate. That makes me sad that they do it, but that’s the story of the world.”

The twins wound up signing with Wisconsin after coach John Powless saw them in their final game for Freeport, a sectional loss to Sterling.

“He went down there to recruit Mark House,” Hughes said of Sterling’s 6-7 forward who wound up playing for Murray State. “Sterling beat us on a last-second shot that hit the guide wire on the side of the basket, so it shouldn’t have counted, and after I fouled out when we were up by five points. It was just a terrible, terrible game.”

But it was great for the Hughes twins.

“I didn’t know anything about Powless as a coach, but I loved the man. He’s like a father figure to me,” Hughes said.

He picked Wisconsin even though protests were riling campus at the time. Sterling Hall, which contained the Army Mathematics Research Center, was bombed by four anti-Vietnam War protesters in August 1970, damaging 26 buildings and killing a math professor.

“People think protests are hot now; they have no idea of what happened then,” Hughes said. “We didn’t even have classes because police were gassing things so heavily. They lost control.

 

Career information

High school     Freeport (Freeport, Illinois)

College            Wisconsin (1971–1974)

NBA draft        1974: 3rd round, 45th overall pick

Drafted by       Buffalo Braves

Playing career 1974–1989

Position           Center

Number           35, 12, 44, 3

Career history

As a player:

1974–1975      Olimpia Milano

1975–1978      New York / New Jersey Nets

1978–1980      Denver Nuggets

1980–1981      Cleveland Cavaliers

1981–1983      Virtus Roma

1983–1988      Viola Reggio Calabria

1988–1989      Basket Brescia

As a coach:

1998–2003      Denver Nuggets (assistant)

2003–2010      Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)

2010    Los Angeles Clippers (interim)

2012–2015      Portland Trail Blazers (assistant)

2015–2016      Viola Reggio Calabria (assistant)

Career highlights

ABA champion (1976)

ABA All-Rookie First Team (1976)

Italian Serie A champion (1983)