Portland Trail Blazer Great Maurice Lucas Passes Away At 58

Lucas had battled bladder cancer for the past two years. He was an assistant coach for the Blazers when he had surgery in April of 2009, then appeared to be recovering when he suffered a relapse that hospitalized him in November of 2009.
Lucas was a five timeAll-Star, three times in Portland, during his 14-year career (2 in the ABA and 12 in the NBA). Portland has his No. 20 retired by the team. He was the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder to Bill Walton on the 1976-1977 NBA Championship team. Walton has called Lucas “The greatest Trail Blazer of All-Time.’’

Here’s some great stories about Lucas and his epic handshake.

Dave from SBNation blog Blazeredge remembers Lucas by recounting the story of meeting Lucas and Bill Walton as a child.

...when I got to the front of the line and actually saw them, pen and paper clutched in my little hands, I was unable to move. I wasn’t scared, although even when they were seated I could tell these guys were huge. I just didn’t dare to approach. I might as well have been treading on holy ground, defined by the shadow cast by these two men. They looked at me. I stared at them, frozen, wishing that the moment would last forever. After a moment, though, I realized that I was supposed to be approaching them like everyone else had. When I couldn’t my awe turned to timidity, which quickly started to turn to shame. I couldn’t fail in front of THEM! Not these two! I think they saw the flicker in my eyes because they looked at each other and laughed...a big, out-loud kind of laugh. I now suspect that it was the laugh you laugh as you remember being an innocent little kid yourself and you’re amazed that, even though you’re still that same person inside, you’re now the kind of man that little kids freeze and worry about failing in front of. They didn’t speak to each other. They just shared their laugh and a mutual understanding and then invited me into it. They both reached out their hands and said, “Come here, guy. It’s OK.” With a slight shove from my sister I walked up to them. I think it was Walton who tousled my hair and Lucas smiled the biggest smile and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Well, duh! I wanted to be a Blazer, like them! They smiled and said they thought I could make it and then they sent me on my way. I glowed all of the way home and for days after.