Wayman Tisdale was the second pick of the draft by the Indiana Pacers and the big lefty had a great career.

Tisdale averaged 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds for his NBA career. The 6′ 9″ forward averaged over 25 points per game in college.

He also played for the Kings and the Suns. With the Kings, Wayman had a 3 year stint where he averaged over 19 points per game.

first learned he had cancerous cyst below his right knee after he broke his leg in a fall at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007.

Tisdale, now an award-winning jazz musician, underwent treatment and later had knee replacement surgery and resumed touring. Tisdale was still undergoing chemotherapy when he told the AP in June that “I feel better than ever. I’m excited. I’ve got a whole new look on life. I look at life on a whole ‘nother radar.”

…On his Web site, Tisdale said removing a portion of the leg would be the best way to ensure that the cancer would not return.

source

Wayman retired to become a professional jazz musician.

Check out this YouTube of Wayman Tisdale playing and discussing his jazz album Way Up.

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Kobe Bryant gets Pau Gasol

Which teams benefited the most from the recent signing frenzy?

10. Kidd to Mavericks – This trade fell through, would still have been a great move for the Mavs.

9. Kidd to Mavericks – This trade worked after about a week, is taking longer than that for it to work for the Mavs. Dirk Nowitzki gets the ball in the right place.

8. Bibby to Hawks – Young team needed a scoring leader. Bibby is that man.

7. Ratliff to Pistons – Pistons needed defensive help in the post. Ratliff already pays dividends in Sheed’s absence.

6. Cassell to Celtics – Celtics worry about Rondo. Cassell will get some of his minutes.

5. Thomas to Spurs – Duncan gets some more power underneath.

4. Wallace to Cavs – LeBron gets some defensive help in the post.

3. Korver to Jazz – The Jazz get instant outside shooting off the bench.

2. Shaq to Suns – The Suns get half court defense for the playoffs. Nash assists can now go with Shaq rebounds.

1. Gasol to Lakers – The Lakers will have tallest front line when Bynum returns. Kobe has a second scoring punch.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did your team make a deal?

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Who are these guys?

Deron Williams? All everyone talks about is Chris Paul of the Hornets, or the arrival of Jason Kidd in Dallas, but Deron Williams is off to a great career with that hidden team, the Utah Jazz. Deron had 14 assists by half time. Half time!

Mehmet Okur? All everyone talks about is Shaq going to the Suns, or Dirk Nowitzki lighting it up for the Mavs, or the return of Andrew Bynum, or Pau Gasol gaining new life with the Lakers, but Mehmet has some of those European style components to his game, learned in Turkey, that make him tough to guard and he rebounds well in a crowd. Just ask Joe Dumars, he wanted to keep him a Piston, but the price was too high.

Carlos Boozer? Hey, what is he doing on the Jazz? Carlos is a 20/10 guy that weighs 266 pounds. 20 points and 10 rebound season average that is and the 266 pounds on his 6′ 9″ frame makes him tough to handle inside.

Andrei Kirilenko? He may not be a 20/10 guy, but he does everything else with steals, blocked shots, rebounds, points, and just plain excellent defense. In 2005-06 he was on the NBA all defensive team. This year he has suffered a lot of injuries and did not play most of this most recent game.

Utah played most of the game without forward Andrei Kirilenko, who was knocked out of the game with 7:04 left in the first quarter after taking a flagrant foul from Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki. Kirilenko went crashing to the floor and bruised his right hip bad enough that he was taken to the hospital for X-rays, which showed no break. source

NBA Basketball Andrei Kirilenko factoid – Became just 4th player in NBA history, and first since 1993-94, to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 4+ assists and 3+ blocks in single season (Abdul-Jabbar six times, Bob Lanier – 1973-74, David Robinson – 1993-94) source

Kyle Korver? The least heard about trade this side of Golden State picking up old timer Chris Weber. Kyle gives them the big time bench scorer they needed and had 17 points in this game.

Utah won over Dallas 116 – 110.

The Jazz went on a momentum-changing fourth-quarter run in a 116-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, coming back after blowing a 21-point lead. Utah made all 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and stayed near the top of the congested standings in the Western Conference. source

Dallas

Josh Howard scored 25 points and Nowitzki finished with 23 for Dallas, which fell to 4-4 since acquiring Jason Kidd.

Kidd finished with nine assists and 19 points — 10 of which he scored in the fourth quarter. Jason Terry scored 21 for the Mavericks.

It appears the Jason Kidd experiment will take a little time to get going.

Anyway, Utah is fighting for their life in the tough Western Conference.

Back to Utah

“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Boozer said. “You had people diving for loose balls, scrapping for rebounds. That’s what the playoffs are about. That’s what the last 20 games are going to be like as we try to position ourselves for the playoffs.”

So who is Utah and why aren’t the New Orleans Hornets called the Jazz? Hmm, that does seem a bit strange.

Utah is the hidden team loaded with talent and a good record. Look out Western Conference!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Were you aware of how good the Jazz are looking?

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Fisher was a key member of the Lakers’ three championships that starred Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. After the Lakers lost to the Pistons in 2004, Fisher signed with the Golden State Warriors and was eventually traded to the Utah Jazz last season. He played a key role in the Jazz’s successful playoff run especially in the Conference Finals. He asked to be released by the team to allow him to care for his daughter in another city where she can get proper treatment for her eye cancer.

Fisher is the kind of player every team would love to have so the Lakers are lucky to have him back. He’s talented, hard working and he brings veteran presence. The thing about Fisher is that he’s more than willing to take a back seat to the younger guys while still making an impact when asked just like he did in Utah. He will be a very good mentor second year guard Jordan Farmar and rookie Javaris Crittenton. He can also play both guard spots like he did in Utah so that gives the team a lot of versatility in using him.

I love Derek Fisher’s game a lot but more so I like him as a person. That’s why I wish him luck in hi Lakers comeback and more importantly for his daughter’s treatment.

Post from: NBA Obsessed

The Utah Jazz let go of veteran guard Derek Fisher to care for his daughter Tatum who has cancer in her left eye. We’ve seen Fisher miss some action during the recently concluded playoffs for this reason so I’m sure he wanted to be there for his daughter full time without the distractions of having to play and travel with an NBA team.

“Life for me outweighs the game of basketball,” Fisher told reporters after flying from New York to meet with Jazz owner Larry H. Miller and other team executives.

“When it comes to decisions related to them,” he said of his family, “I do what’s best.”

SI 7/02/07

Derek Fisher is an NBA veteran and a proven winner having won championships with the LA Lakers. His veteran presence and experience helped the young Utah Jazz team in their surprising success story last season and I’m sure he will be missed. Their rookie Morris Almond would have benefited a lot from learning from Fisher since he’s a good scorer and defender. While Almond may be a good scorer, scouting reports say his defense will have to be worked on.

This situation situation reminds me of how I lost some playing buddies in World of Warcraft since they needed to take care of business in real life. It was sad to see them go but real life is more important than some game or anything else especially when it means having to take care of your family and being there for them when they need you. If Fisher never puts on an NBA jersey again, it’s totally understandable but a comeback would definitely be awesome in the future!

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