{"id":3261,"date":"2014-01-01T22:21:10","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T22:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jazzusa.com\/wayman-tisdale-basketball-star-and-jazz-musician-dies-at-age-44\/"},"modified":"2011-01-01T22:21:10","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T22:21:10","slug":"wayman-tisdale-basketball-star-and-jazz-musician-dies-at-age-44","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jazzusa.com\/?p=3261","title":{"rendered":"Wayman Tisdale – Basketball Star and Jazz Musician Dies at Age 44"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
Wayman Tisdale<\/strong><\/font>
Basketball Star and Jazz Musician Dies at Age 44<\/strong><\/font>
CNN – May 15, 2009<\/a><\/p>\n

Wayman Tisdale, who became a successful jazz musician after retiring from pro basketball, died Friday\u00a0May 15, 2009\u00a0after a two-year battle with cancer. Tisdale, 44, died in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, hospital, where his wife took him when he had trouble breathing early Friday, agent Scott Pang said. <\/p>\n

Tisdale’s death was “a complete shock” and came as he prepared to return to the recording studio next week to work on a project with jazz guitarist Norman Brown, Pang said.”He was a real testament to the power of positive thinking,” Pang said. “Even after the cancer and amputating his leg above his knee, he never lost that smile on his face.”<\/p>\n

Doctors discovered Tisdale’s bone cancer after he broke his leg in a fall down a flight of stairs, according to the official biography on his Web site.<\/p>\n

“It really showed me what’s important in life, man,” he said in his bio. “It’s not getting as many houses as I can, not driving the biggest cars. What’s important is family and being healthy.”<\/p>\n

Tisdale averaged 15 points and six rebounds a game over a 12-year NBA career, during which he played with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, according to the NBA Web site.<\/p>\n

“He was the nicest man in the world with the biggest heart and an even bigger smile,” Reggie Miller, Tisdale’s teammate with the Pacers in the late 1980s, said in a statement to the Indianapolis Star. “I thank him for befriending me and showing me there is more to life than just basketball.”<\/p>\n

Sam Perkins, also a former Indiana Pacer and best man at Tisdale’s wedding, told the Indianapolis Star that Tisdale’s enthusiasm went beyond the court.<\/p>\n

“That’s a real friend who’s got your back and would do just about anything for you,” Perkins said. “That smile just gets you. He was upbeat all the time.”<\/p>\n

Former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson told the Indianapolis Star Tisdale was always smiling and had an unbelievably upbeat attitude.<\/p>\n

“Every time he came in a room or before a game, he always had that smile,” Johnson said. “Now, he would elbow you afterward, but he always had that smile.” <\/p>\n

Tisdale was also considered a Sooner superstar during his stint at Oklahoma University.<\/p>\n

“Wayman’s one of the biggest reasons why I chose Oklahoma,” said Stacey King, Tisdale’s Oklahoma teammate and a former Chicago Bulls player. “I wanted to be part of something special, and it made logical sense to go to OU, because I wanted to pattern my game after him. I wanted to be like him. People used to talk about ‘Be like Mike [Jordan],’ but I wanted to be like Wayman. We’ve lost a special person. I don’t think there will ever be another Wayman Tisdale.” <\/p>\n

His jazz recording career began in 1995, two years before his 1997 NBA retirement, with a debut CD that rose to No. 4 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart and crossed over onto the R&B charts, the bio said.<\/p>\n

Subsequent songs — including “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” “Can’t Hide Love” and “Don’t Take Your Love Away” — were top radio hits.<\/p>\n

Singer and actor Jamie Foxx praised the basketball star’s music career, telling Rolling Stone magazine in 2005 that his all-time backup band would be “Sheila E on the drums; Herbie Hancock on the keys; Earth, Wind and Fire singing backup vocals; Prince and Slash on guitar; Randy Jackson on percussion; Wayman Tisdale on bass; Kenny G on the sax with Branford Marsalis; and Wynton Marsalis on trumpet.”<\/p>\n

Tisdale is survived by his wife, four children and one granddaughter. <\/p>\n


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