TumblnVijay

[This post was originally posted on May 16, 2009 on my previous blog]

Every kid who becomes a sports fan has a first crush. An athlete that opens up the world of sports and competition in a way that seems like fantasy. For me, that athlete was Wayman Tisdale. A prodigious recruiting coup for Billy Tubbs, who arrived in Norman the same time my family moved there in 1982. In his first game, a loss at highly ranked UNLV, he scored 21 points in 24 minutes and never looked back. His turnaround left handed shot was the smoothest motion I’ve ever seen.

Wayman Tisdale died yesterday, at the unbelievably young age of 44, after a 2 year battle with cancer. I think for those of us who followed him closely, we thought the worst had past with the amputation of his leg. As a result, it is a big shock. This ESPN feature ran last year about his decision and recovery.



But the best thing about him which has been well chronicled was his smile. It lit up the arena, and disarmed the most ardent opponent. Wayman had fun, and while he was competitive, he never crossed that line that other athletes can easily go, he never taunted, he never lost his cool, and he was still having fun and smiling. I give him the most sincere form of respect - imitation - I smile when something is not going my way — it is something I picked up from him when I was 8.

I didn’t appreciate then how his faith grounded him. But as time went on, and other more mortal athletes crossed the screen, you realized how special and unique Wayman was. He was one of a kind, the likes of which I’ve never seen since in 25+ years of watching sports. Hopefully, someone else will come along like him, we would be so lucky.

I regret the fact that he was almost never on TV once he made the NBA. The teams he was on were so bad. I am the type of NBA fan who only watches the playoffs on TV, and I only saw him play once, when he was with the Suns, and was getting to play in garbage time of a blowout.

If the story ended there, it would be a full story, one of a college sports hero loved by an entire state. But Wayman’s short 44 years on this world were way beyond that. His music, his other passion, is a joy to listen to. I bought his album Power Forward 10 years ago, and it opened up my musical taste to jazz. If you’ve never listened to his music, I suggest you give it a try. It has a very unique style and is great calming mood music. I’ve put some of his albums below on a carousel. 

Because his NBA career was relatively modest, the media coverage is a bit confused. They know something big just happened, but they can’t put it into the boxes they’re used to. To the fact sheets, Wayman was just a 12 year NBA veteran who averaged 15 points a game and a 3 time All-American at Oklahoma. But if that’s all you see in Wayman Tisdale, you missed out on a whole world of greatness.