I was completely shocked when I found out that Wayman Tisdale had passed away. His wife had taken him into the hospital because he was having a difficult time breathing. As yet, it is unconfirmed whether his death was related to his battle with cancer.
Tisdale graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he grew up. As a college player at Oklahoma from 1983 to 1985, he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and the first player in collegiate history to be named a first-team All American by the Associated Press in his freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons.[4] He still holds the record at Oklahoma for the most points scored by any player through his freshman and sophomore seasons. He won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team coached by Indiana University’s Bobby Knight, and the Indiana Pacers made Tisdale the second overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. As a center and power forward, Tisdale averaged over 15 points and six rebounds per game in a 12-season professional career with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. His best season was in 1989–90 with the Kings, when he averaged 22.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Tisdale and Mitch “The Rock” Richmond combined to form one of the most dynamic duos in the NBA. In 1997, Tisdale retired to focus on his musical career. In 1997, Tisdale became the first player in any sport to have his jersey number (23) retired by the University of Oklahoma.[5] When Blake Griffin was granted permission to wear it during his career at OU (2007–2009), he sought and received Tisdale’s blessing before accepting it.
After he retired from sports Wayman Tisdale went on to have a successful career in the music industry where his passion for Jazz lead to numerous accolades.
It was during the OU – TU game when I had the opportunity to meet Wayman. I was on the baseline focusing on Blake Griffin when he leaned over to me and said “He’s an incredible player isn’t he?.. That number 23 jersey is magic…” then he humbly laughed and smiled. I leaned back and had a brief conversation with Wayman about Blake. He pointed out that there were over twenty NBA agents and scouts sitting behind us and they were all there to see Blake.
I read a quote from Jeff Capel yesterday that said, “[Tisdale] had an incredible gift of making the people who came in contact with him feel incredibly special.” It was a short conversation that I shared with Wayman, but Capel is right, he was incredibly sincere and warm.
His smile was absolutely contagious…