Sooner Legend, Longtime NBA Player Wayman Tisdale Dies at 44

Former University of Oklahoma star, longtime NBA veteran forward and accomplished jazz guitarist Wayman Tisdale died Friday morning. He was 44.

Tisdale played 12 seasons in the NBA and averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was a member of the U.S. team that captured the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

In 2007, Tisdale was diagnosed with bone cancer. His right leg was amputated in August, 2008.

The Indiana Pacers drafted Wayman Tisdale out of Oklahoma in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft. The 6'9" Tisdale played with the Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns before retiring in 1997. Tisdale released his debut jazz album, "Power Forward," in 1995, while a member of the Suns (where he played from the 1994-95 season until 1997). "Power Forward" rose to No. 4 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Tisdale's career as a jazz musician took off when his basketball career came to an end. He was one of the most successful musicians in the contemporary jazz scene up until his death.

RIP Wayman Tisdale.

Associated Press video: here.

Sacramento's Abdur-Rahim Retires

Sacramento forward Sharif Abdur-Rahim has announced his retirement from the NBA. Abdur-Rahim cited a recurring knee injury and his subsequent struggles to return to "the condition and level that is needed to play in the NBA" as his reason for leaving the game.

Abdur-Rahim played for four teams in his 12 year NBA career. He has career averages of 18.1 points (.452 FGs, .297 3FGs, .810 FTs), 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.


(Image: Poster-Spezialist.de)

Update:

A couple of Drive and Dish readers have pointed out that, for the month of September, every Drive and Dish post has dealt with overwhelmingly negative subject matter: an athlete's retirement, the suggestion that an athlete should retire, athletes whose injuries will sideline them for the season, the death of a coach and the alleged bankruptcy of a major American corporation.

Apparently, some people sense that Drive and Dish has taken on a macabre tone and wonder if everything is all right in Drive and Dish land. Others, such as e-mailer (and deep thinker) "Jack Handy" and commenter "Wrigleyville Illini," have noted that Mark Buckets has not written on Drive and Dish for months, and are asking if I'm trying to send a subtle hint about the potential blogging retirement of Trashtalk Superstar, and/or the retirement of the Drive and Dish blog.

Interesting observations.

As for the answer:

Stay tuned.

Update II:

Apparently, my "answer" to the e-mailers' questions was a bit too cryptic. Fair enough. I guess it was pretty cryptic. But for the record, I wouldn't have instructed readers to "stay tuned" if I didn't intend to keep generating new content.

"Stay tuned" was intended to be coy, not cryptic.