Wayman Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma who played 12 seasons in the NBA, died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44. Tisdale died Friday morning at St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, hospital spokeswoman Joy McGill said. He 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. Tisdale, a 6-foot-9 forward from Tulsa with a soft left-handed touch, 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." Tisdale was the first freshman to be a first-team All-American since freshmen were allowed to play again in 1971-72. He was also one of 10 three-time All-Americans: The others were Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, Pete Maravich, Patrick Ewing, Tom Gola, Jerry Lucas, David Thompson and Ralph Sampson. Ewing and Tisdale were the last to accomplish the feat, from 1983-85. Tisdale played on an Olympic team that sailed to the gold medal in Los Angeles, winning its game by 32 points. The squad was coached by Bob Knight and featured the likes of Ewing, Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and Chris Mullin. Tisdale averaged 25.6 points and 10.1 rebounds during his three seasons with the Sooners, earning Big Eight Conference player of the year each season. He still holds Oklahoma's career scoring record with 2,661 points and career rebounding record with 1,048. Tisdale also owns the school's single-game scoring mark, a 61-point outing against Texas-San Antonio as a sophomore, along with career records in points per game, field goals and free throws made and attempts.
Governor Henry's statement on the passing of Tisdale
“Oklahoma has lost one of its most beloved sons. Wayman Tisdale was a hero both on and off the basketball court. Wayman played at OU during the time I attended school there, and I had the privilege of seeing a true champion in action. He was an incredible athlete and competitor.
“Off the court, he was an equally gifted musician and a tremendous ambassador for our state. I had the pleasure of appointing Wayman to serve on the state Tourism Commission, and it was one of the best appointments I have made as governor.
“In his two-year battle with cancer, Wayman demonstrated courage, faith and true strength of character. Even in the most challenging of times, he had a smile for people, and he had the rare ability to make everyone around him smile. He was one of the most inspirational people I have ever known.
“Wayman Tisdale was a man of extraordinary talents and an extraordinary heart, and he will be deeply missed. Kim and I have Wayman’s wife, children and family in our thoughts and prayers.”
Wayman Tisdale's biography from waymantisdale.com
Sometimes a word can mean one thing your entire life, and then circumstances alter to provide a totally different interpretation.
For NBA-icon-turned-musical-star Wayman Tisdale, rebound meant to grab possession of a basketball during a game.
But in 2007, that all changed. Tisdale was diagnosed with bone cancer after he fell down a flight of steps and broke his leg. Knee replacement surgery and months of chemotherapy followed. And rebound took on a new significance once his right leg was amputated right above the knee in 2008.
As many before him, he came through the disease with a renewed perspective: “It really showed me what’s important in life, man. It’s not getting as many houses as I can, not driving the biggest cars,” he says. “What’s important is family and being healthy.”
That reinvigorated joy and sense of purpose pervades Rebound, the bass guitarist’s eighth album and his third on Rendezvous Entertainment. “People are going to feel different after listening to this record. They’re going to be happy. There’s going to be a good feeling,” Tisdale says. “Rebound definitely has a beginning, a body and an ending and that’s what I wanted to do. That’s why the record starts with the song ‘Rebound,’ to capture people and bring them in. A Japanese voice before the second verse of ‘Rebound’ says ‘I’ve rebounded and you can rebound also.’ That’s what the message is. If I can do it, you can do it.”
Rebound takes the listener on a journey with gratitude as the ultimate destination. Others might, understandably, be angry at God for the illness, but Tisdale feels nothing but thanks and praise. “He didn’t have to allow the bone to break, a lot of people find out too late,” Tisdale says. “I look at everything from a spiritual standpoint, my father being a Baptist minister before he passed. Through your toughest times, you’re going to find out who you are as a person and I got to really see what type of person I am.”
That spirit is expressed on CD closer “Grateful,” stirringly delivered by gospel great Marvin Sapp. “When he was a newcomer in gospel group Commission, he used to stay at my house and sleep in the Lazy Boy,” Tisdale recalls with a robust laugh. “I needed somebody to complete this record and I couldn’t think of a better person than Marvin. I knew he would give it the emotion and really bring it home the way it needed to be brought home and he did a beautiful job.”
Another old friend—and fellow Oklahoman-- Toby Keith also makes an appearance. In his self-appointed role of “Ambassador of Old School," Tisdale covers an R&B classic on each album. Here, he and Keith team up for the Barry White classic “Never Gonna Give You Up.” “I was literally on the internet looking at a lot of old school songs, listening to Earth, Wind & Fire and some old school Isley Bros., when I got a call and Toby says, I got the song we need to redo: ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’ It still didn’t register until the studio and I mean, my mouth was wide open. I could not believe what I was hearing! Toby nails it!”
Another highlight is first single, “Throwin’ It Down,” which announces that Tisdale is back in the game. He co-wrote the upbeat, jaunty tune with Darren Rahn, who produced Wayman’s #1 single “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.” “It’s a good feeling; it’s saying ‘I’m coming out. I’m back.’”
While Tisdale, who lives in Tulsa, Okla., with his wife, four children, and new granddaughter, Bailey, says his return was never in doubt, he admits there were tough days during his treatment, days when “I wasn’t doing anything, just pretty much existing, trying to get to the next day.” During days such as those, solace came from a somewhat surprising source: his 2003 CD, 21 Days. “I wrote that whole record in three weeks and I was always astonished about what happened and what came over me to write that record,” he says. “In the end, it turned out I had written the record for me to get through these times.”
The cancer came on top of Tisdale’s decision to lose weight to get back into fighting shape. “I’ve had a great time,” of taking care of his health. “It’s been the best thing I’ve done.”
That’s quite a statement for someone who has accomplished so much. Although Tisdale showed promise on the bass from an early age, his tremendous athletic talent initially overshadowed his musical leanings. He played for the University of Oklahoma Sooners from 1983 to 1985 and became the first player to have his jersey retired. All three years at Oklahoma, Tisdale was named to the All American team, and in 1984 he played on the U.S. Olympic team which brought home the gold. In 1986 the Indiana Pacers selected Tisdale as the No. 2 overall draft pick behind Patrick Ewing. For the next 12 years, Tisdale left his mark on the NBA with the Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, scoring more than 12,800 points and pulling down more than 5,000 rebounds in a 12-year career. Before he retired after the 1997 season, Tisdale had already made the transition toward a career in music. In 1995 he released his debut CD, appropriately titled Power Forward, which climbed to No. 4 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart and, like all of his subsequent efforts, crossed over onto the R&B charts. In the Zone, Decisions and Face to Face all landed in Billboard’s Top 10, with 2001’s Face to Face going to No. 1, as did his last album, Way Up. In addition to “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” he took “Can’t Hide Love” and “Don’t Take Your Love Away” to No. 1 at radio. Even actor Jamie Foxx recognizes Tisdale’s enormous musical talents. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Foxx selected Wayman as part of his “dream band” along with Herbie Hancock, Wynton and Brandford Marsalis and Prince.
Tisdale will be the first to say that each project defines a moment in time and Rebound is no exception. “Each album has its own personality and its own edge and I think Rebound will carve its own niche. This record is definitely a reflection of me and where I’m at today.”
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