Remembering Wayman Tisdale, 1964-2009

Photo Credit: Bill Baptist, NBAE, Getty Images

Former NBA forward, Oklahoma Sooner great, 1984 Olympian, and accomplished musician Wayman Tisdale would have turned 61 years old today. 

Tisdale was a 6 foot 9 inch, 240 pound power forward who was Oklahoma through and through. Born in Tulsa, he attended Booker T. Washington High School, starring and leading the Hornets to the 1981 State Championship. He averaged 14.5 points and 12.0 rebounds as a sophomore, 18.8 points and 14.0 rebounds as a junior, and 23.7 points and 11.8 rebounds as a senior. Heavily recruited by the University of Tulsa and Georgetown University, Tisdale decided on the Sooners. 

In three seasons at Oklahoma where he played in 104 college games, Tisdale averaged 25.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game on 57.8% shooting. He averaged 24.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks as a freshman on 58.0% shooting, 27.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks as a sophomore on 57.7% shooting, and as a junior averaged 25.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks on 57.8% shooting. Tisdale was a three-time 1st team All-American, 3-time Big 8 Player of the Year, 2-time All-Big 8 Tournament MVP, and was the 1982-83 Big 8 Rookie of the Year. His 932 points in his senior season still rank No.1 all-time for a season in program history, as do his 370 field-goals as a senior. With Tisdale, the Sooners made the NCAA Tournament each year, making it as far as the Regional Final in 1985. In Tisdale’s three seasons, the program posted a record of 84-20.

Drafted 2nd overall in the 1985 NBA Draft behind Hall of Fame center Patrick Ewing, Tisdale joined an Indiana Pacer team that had won just 22 games in 1984-85. The 1985-86 version of the Pacers was a younger group that included one-year veterans Terence Stansbury and Vern Fleming, three-year vet Clark Kellogg, and fourth-year center Herb Williams. Quinn Buckner, nine years in and a 1984 champion with the Boston Celtics, was the resident veteran. 

Tisdale started 60 games as a rookie, shooting an efficient 51.5% on 12 shots per game in 28 minutes. 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds were his first year averages. He averaged 14.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in his second season (15 starts, 27 minutes, 11 shots per game, 51.3%), and in 1987-88 averaged 16.1 points and 6.2 rebounds in 57 starts (30 minutes per game), on 13 shots and 51.2% from the field. 

48 games into the 1988-89 season, after 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in 28 minutes on 50.5% shooting (12 shots), Tisdale was traded from a team that would win 28 games that season to a Sacramento Kings team that would win 27. Heading to Indiana in exchange for Tisdale were Indiana native Randy Wittman and forward LaSalle Thompson. 

Tisdale quickly saw elevated opportunity in Sacramento, with his shots increased to 15, his minutes from 28 to 36. Now a starter, he averaged 19.8 points and 9.6 rebounds on 52.3% shooting in 31 games (30 starts) for the Kings over the remainder of ‘88-‘89. He played 79 games (all starts) in 1989-90, averaging 37 minutes per game and a career-high 18 shots (52.5% from the field) for a career best 22.3 points along with 7.5 rebounds. 

Over the next four seasons in Sacramento, Tisdale started 254 out of 260 games and averaged 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds, 16.6 points and 6.5 rebounds, 16.6 points and 6.6 rebounds, and 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds. With the arrival of Mitch Richmond in Sacramento for 1991-92, Tisdale’s shot attempts decreased from 16 to 15 and then 14 in his final two King seasons. Still, he was an efficient player (48.3%, 50%, 50.9%, and 50.1%) in his last four seasons as a King. 

With Phoenix Suns’ superstar forward Charles Barkley dealing with back issues after the 1994 playoffs, the Suns signed Tisdale in the summer of 1994. He would spend the last three seasons of his career as a Sun.

Tisdale played 181 games over his final three NBA seasons and started 34, averaging 19.6, 18.3, and 14.7 minutes (10.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 10.7 points and 3.4 rebounds and 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds). 

After the 1997 season, Tisdale retired. He enjoyed his best seasons as a King, where he started 363 out of 370 games and put up 18.4 points and 7.2 rebounds on 50.9% shooting in 34 minutes per game. As a Pacer, he averaged 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds on 51.2% shooting in 28 minutes per game, and started 137 of 289 games. In his 12 seasons total, Tisdale started 534 of his 840 total games and averaged 50.5% shooting in 28 minutes per game on 13 shots. He was a career 15.3 point-per-game scorer and averaged 6.1 rebounds. 

One of Tisdale’s highlight achievements in his basketball career was a 1984 Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He led the team in rebounds per game at 5.9, with a roster that included Ewing and Sam Perkins. NBA veteran big man Joe Kleine, later a teammate in Phoenix with Tisdale, was also on the roster. Chris Mullin, Alvin Robertson, sharp shooting Indiana Hoosier Steve Alford and Fleming were also on the team as was future NBA official Leon Wood. Bobby Knight’s group was led by Michael Jordan. To prepare for the Olympics, the team played exhibition games against a squad of star pros that featured Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Mark Aguirre. 

During and after his NBA career, Tisdale became an accomplished jazz musician, with music holding special meaning to him since he received his first guitar at the age of 8. His debut album Power Forward, released in 1995, reached No. 4 on the Billboard Jazz chart. He signed with Motown Records before a move to Atlantic Records, and his 2001 album Face to Face made it to No.1 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart. From 1995-2008, Tisdale released eight albums. His ninth, The Fonk Record, was released in 2010, one year after his passing. Take it from someone who has purchased a few of his CDs over the years: his music is high quality, 

In 2007, Tisdale suffered a fall at his home and was diagnosed with a broken leg. That diagnosis led to a diagnosis of bone cancer in his knee. Part of Tisdale’s right leg was amputated in 2008. That same year, he released Rebound, his eighth album.

On April 19, 2008, in Memphis, he performed for the final time. Less than one month later, on May 15, 2009, he succumbed to the cancer at the far too young age of 44. Prior to his passing, ESPN ran an E60 feature on him, where you could see that through all of his health struggles, Tisdale never lost his joy. In 2009, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Unique and multitalented. A man whose passion led him to continued success in a different arena.

Continue to rest, Wayman Tisdale.