After an over two-year battle with bone cancer that led to several rounds of chemotherapy and an amputated leg, Jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale passed away May 15, 2009. The former college basketball All-American and NBA star with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns is survived by his wife Regina, four children, and countless fans and musicians around the world. He was 44.
A little over a month later, Tisdale’s memory, impact, and infectious smile is still being felt and mourned in the NBA community, the contemporary jazz family, and especially in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Numerous charities and festivals have paid tribute to the man in one way or another, giving the sports and entertainment icon a fitting and proper sendoff.
Wayman Tisdale Reigns Supreme on the Hardwood and Jazz Scene
Tisdale is the product of Oklahoma Sooners basketball, where he remains the record holder for the most points scored by any player through his freshman and sophomore seasons at the school. He was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and received an Olympic gold medal in 1984 playing for the U.S. National Team in Los Angeles. Drafted a year later to the Indiana Pacers as the second pick in the 1985 Draft, Tisdale spent 13 seasons in the NBA, making stops in Sacramento and Phoenix before retiring in 1997.
Before leaving the game of professional basketball for good, Tisdale had already embarked on a successful music career, releasing his first album Power Forward in 1995 and In the Zone a year later. Upon retiring from the NBA Tisdale went full-tilt in the realm of contemporary jazz, releasing five albums and touring around the country and the world. His most critically acclaimed and commercially successful album was Face to Face, a 2001 release that reached #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album charts. Tisdale had just released his seventh album Way Up! when his world as he knew it came crashing down.
Tisdale’s Selfless Struggle with Cancer
In February 2007, Tisdale broke his leg when he fell down a flight of stairs at his home in Los Angeles. While examining that injury, doctors discovered a cancerous cyst just below his knee. Repeated biopsies over five weeks of treatment concluded that the mass was malignant, and was diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
Tisdale had the cyst removed, had knee replacement surgery, and then began chemotherapy. The first round of chemo was unsuccessful, so a second round was administered. The cancer would not completely subside, however, which led to the lower portion of his right leg being amputated. He was fitted with a prosthesis, which was unchartered territory for a man of his 6’9” frame. But his positivity and perseverance was as big as his height, and he would never waver from regaining his health.
Tisdale seemed to be on the road to recovery, continuing to tour and record music. His eighth contemporary jazz album titled Rebound was released shortly after his diagnosis and planned to return to the studio to start recording a session with longtime friend guitarist Norman Brown. Things seemed to become less about cancer for Tisdale and more about life, until the morning of May 15th.
Tisdale told his wife Regina he was having trouble breathing that morning, and was quickly rushed to a Tulsa area hospital where he passed away. Reports of cause of death are still inconclusive, although many suspect the bone cancer was the primary reason of his departure.
The Lasting Impact of a Caring, Gifted Individual
Although Wayman Tisdale’s time on Earth is over, his legacy and influence will continue to resonate throughout the world; in basketball, in music, and in life. A deeply spiritual person, Tisdale left everything up to God and let his light shine through his music, his personality, and his smile. It’s with these attributes in mind that everyone he’s affected during his life have honored and paid tribute to him in every way possible.
Norman Brown and his Summer Storm (featuring saxophonist Eric Darius, vocalist Phil Perry and pianist Gail Jhonson) paid tribute to Tisdale at the 31st annual Playboy Jazz Festival on June 13th at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame's Jazz Fest for 2009 will also pay tribute to Tisdale on June 27, dedicating their upcoming Summer Concert Series to his memory and will feature young and aspiring performers who were influenced by the man’s tutelage and inspiration. The Jazz Fest will be headlined by saxophonist Eldredge Jackson and his group Listening Pleasure. Jackson had the privilege to tour with Tisdale in and around the Tulsa area, and was benefitted of having him as a writer, producer, and featured guest artist on his debut album, "Listening Pleasure," three years ago.
Projected first-round pick of the 2009 NBA draft Blake Griffin was greatly influenced by his fellow University of Oklahoma alum, so much so that his freshman year he asked Tisdale to wear his number 23, the first jersey number ever retired by a Sooner player. A request that Tisdale granted.
“I didn’t really get to know him until I was in the middle of my freshman year at Oklahoma,” Griffin said at a recent Pre-draft combine Q&A session in Chicago. “The influence he had on my game and my life, just the way he looks at life in general and the way he views it is a positive influence and something I’ll always remember.”
What will always be remembered about Wayman Tisdale is no matter the obstacle, no matter the hardship, nothing and no one could remove that smile.
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