04/19/24
May 11, 2011
Robert 'Tractor' Traylor Found Dead: Former NBA player Robert "Tractor" Traylor has been found dead in his apartment in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, from what appears to be a heart attack. Traylor was in Puerto Rico playing for the Bayamon Cowboys. He was 34. The sixth overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft out of Michigan, Traylor played seven seasons in the NBA. He was drafted by the Mavericks and traded that night to the Milwaukee Bucks for two other first round picks, Pat Garrity and Dirk Nowitzki.
posted by BornIcon to basketball at 02:33 PM - 5 comments
Garrity - 10 years, 7.3 point per game average. Muursepp - traded by Phoenix to Chicago then cut; never played again in NBA. Wells - traded with Muursepp to Chicago then cut; never played again in NBA. 1999 1st round choice - Shawn Marion. Eventually Phoenix got Nash back, Dallas got Marion back. So essentially, Traylor, Garrity, Muursepp, and Wells for Nowitzki. Lopsided, but not in the way you would have thought back when trade was made. Yeh, I know that's not what the trade really was, but it's the way it worked out.
Back to story, what can you say but shame though not necessarily surprising.
posted by graymatters at 06:38 PM on May 11, 2011
An athlete having a heart attack at only 34 is surprising to me. RIP.
posted by bperk at 07:43 PM on May 11, 2011
A 34 year old having a heart attack and dying is surprising to me. Particularly since I'm turning 34 soon.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:00 PM on May 11, 2011
I understand he had heart surgery a few years ago and had fought weight issues for most of his life (matter of fact in re-reading article, the story even references both). So though it might be surprising that any athlete would die at 34, the fact that it appears to be a heart attack in this instance is not. Still it's a shame and sad that anyone (whether athlete or not) dies this young.
posted by graymatters at 11:10 PM on May 11, 2011
I added some details. I really liked Traylor out of college and can recall being crushed when the Mavericks dealt him for Pat Garrity and a German stiff whose pick made the TV analysts ridicule Don Nelson all night long.
Nelson then traded Garrity, Martin Muursepp, Bubba Wells and a 1999 1st round draft pick for Steve Nash, making June 24, 1998, one of the biggest days in team history.