Wayman Tisdale died on Friday at 44

Wayman Tisdale died on Friday morning after spent past several years battle with his bone cancer. He was 44. The former Oklahoma and NBA star has gone, R.I.P

Wayman Tisdale death has hurted every body he ever met, even Oklahoma coach, Jeff Capel.

"He's one of the best human beings I've ever been around in my entire life," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel told me Friday morning. "Anyone who's ever met him is hurting today because he made you feel special."

He broke his leg twice within one year after a 20-year college and pro basketball career in which he'd never suffered worse than a sprained ankle. When doctors discovered cancerous cells in his leg and a mass program of chemotherapy didn't work, Tisdale's leg was amputated.

But the battle continued, and according to Tisdale's friend Spencer Tillman of CBS Sports, the Sooner legend succumbed this morning. Wayman Tisdale dies.

At Oklahoma, he was an absolute beast, making three All-American teams in three collegiate seasons before being drafted by the Indiana Pacers No. 2 overall in 1985. In an 11-year pro career with the Pacers, Kings and Suns, he averaged 15 points and 6 rebounds. More than that, he was known as one of the kindest, most beautiful humans in pro sports. (Seriously, a bad word has never been uttered about the guy.) Since his retirement, Wayman had gone back to his love of music, putting out eight critically acclaimed jazz albums. Four of them hit the Top 10 on Billboard's contemporary jazz list.

The developmental years of my basketball fanaticism came watching Tizzy's Kings teams in the early '90s. To call those squads overmatched would be a slight understatement. The results were rarely positive. But if there was one place on the court where you could count on the Kings competing hard every single night, it was Tizzy's paint. He never gave up. On anything. He lacked the athleticism of Karl Malone and the size of Patrick Ewing. But he made up for it with incredible pride and passion. That ball was his property, dangit, and he would do everything in his power to make sure he got it. Sometimes, size and athleticism beat him. But he never stewed in defeat long. He'd fight back, 24 seconds later.

That's how Tizzy dealt with cancer. It took his leg. But months later, he had a new jazz album out (Rebound). He didn't stew in defeat. He fought back.

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