Ahh...I'm sorry to hear about this. :o( So young...prayers to his family.
Posted on 05/15/2009 9:37:55 AM PDT by Borges
TULSA, Ohio, May 15 (UPI) -- Wayman Tisdale, an all-America basketball player at Oklahoma, a 12-year NBA veteran and noted jazz musician, has died at the age of 44.
Tisdale died Friday of cancer at a Tulsa hospital, the University of Oklahoma Athletic Department said on its Web site. He was diagnosed with bone cancer after a fall in his home in February 2007.
Tisdale was a star player at Tulsa's Booker T. Washington High School before joining the Oklahoma Sooners. He played three years at Oklahoma, earning all-America honors each season, and remains the school all-time leader in points and rebounds. He was also a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team in 1984.
He was the second overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft and played 12 seasons in the league, scoring 12,878 points, getting 5,117 rebounds and 1,077 assists. He played for Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix during his career.
Tisdale was also a musician, releasing eight recordings beginning with 1995's "Power Forward." He was given the Legacy Tribute Award by the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2002.
He is survived by his wife Regina and four children.
Hate to hear that! I always enjoyed watching Tisdale play . . . and he was a heck of a bass player too!
Aw man, I loved Tisdale! He was one that inspired me when I was playing b-ball in high school.
Prayers to his family.
Ahh...I'm sorry to hear about this. :o( So young...prayers to his family.
Sad, Tisdale was a terrific player and his family deserves our prayers.
Fierce competitor on the court. Prolific musician, eminently listenable. Gentle giant. I'll miss him.
Tis was the man. Very sad to hear.
Sure looks like a helluva nice guy in that pic.
The only OU types I ever liked were Bud Wilkerson, Tisdale, and J.C. Watts the rest of the Sooners are just a bunch of hicks, thugs, cheats, dopers and drunks (especially Barry Switzerstick and Bob Stooooooopid)!
I noticed in the article posted that the site is
“Tulsa, Ohio”.
That kind of concerned me because I thought I grew up in Oklahoma.
I went to the source of the story and it now says
“Tulsa, Okla.”
Sad that he passed. Though I didn’t know him personally, he seemed like a nice guy.
I didn't know he'd suffered a leg amputation in August.
~~~
Tisdale learned of a cancerous cyst below his right knee after breaking his leg in a fall at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007. His leg was amputated last August. He made several public appearances since, including April 7 at an Oklahoma City Thunder game.
A 6-foot-9 forward from Tulsa with a soft left-handed touch, Tisdale played in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. He averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
After his basketball career, he became an award-winning jazz musician, with several albums making the top 10 on the Billboard charts. Last month, he was chosen for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Tisdale's death was announced on the Oklahoma Senate floor Friday by Senate Majority Leader Todd Lamb, who led the chamber in prayer.
"Whether you're a Cowboy or a Sooner, Oklahoma has lost a great ambassador," Lamb said. "He was a gifted musician, a gifted athlete and he just wore that well wherever he went."
~~~
One of my faves, Ain't No Lovin' ~ Wayman Tisdale
God bless you in His restful peace, Wayman. You're now way up.
Very sad news. RIP, Wayman, and sincerest condolences to your family. The world without you is a much poorer place.
Aw, no!!!
Heck of a bass player. Didn’t know he was ill. Rest in peace.
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Thanks for the heads-up, Starwise! A great loss to the jazz world!
He was a BIG MAN in many, many ways.
Beautiful tribute .... thank you. Very sad.
So young.
Condolences to the family and fans.
RIP Wayman
When he was playing with the Suns, the team had no official center. Tisdale, Joe Klein and Danny Schayes swapped each other playing that position. The joke was that the center for Phoenix was named “Schleindale.”
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