OT-Robert "Tractor" Traylor dies at age 34

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didn't we trade for him very briefly? I thought we did but he never played. or a gary trent trade...or something. swore that happened.
 
RIP :(
 
he has arrived at his final rest stop. rip big fella
 
That sucks, but he was probably livin the good life down there.
 
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God damn! Dead of a massive heart attack at only 34. That's way too young.

Condolences to his family, friends and teammates.

BNM
 
he had heart issues for years if i remember correctly :(
 
Boob-No-More said:
God damn! Dead of a massive heart attack at only 34. That's way too young.

Condolences to his family, friends and teammates.

BNM
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My brother died of a massive heart attack at age 37. It happens and really sucks. No parent should bury their children. My father seriously stressed himself so much that he passed away 4 months later.
 
magnifier661 said:
My brother died of a massive heart attack at age 37. It happens and really sucks. No parent should bury their children. My father seriously stressed himself so much that he passed away 4 months later.
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Sorry to hear that about your brother, and your father. My dad died at 74 of a massive heart attack - still too young if you ask me, but no male on my dad's side of the family has ever lived to be 75. My dad missed it by three months, but I have high hopes that my oldest brother will be the first. He'll be 73 in a couple weeks and seems to be in excellent health.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
Sorry to hear that about your brother, and your father. My dad died at 74 of a massive heart attack - still too young if you ask me, but no male on my dad's side of the family has ever lived to be 75. My dad missed it by three months, but I have high hopes that my oldest brother will be the first. He'll be 73 in a couple weeks and seems to be in excellent health.

BNM
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I hope good health to you and your family. Losses are a tough pill to swallow. I really feel for Tractor's family.
 
Very sad news. He is definitely an example of a major epidemic of obesity in America. People need to start eating healthier and exercising or there will be many more sad stories just like him.
 
magnifier661 said:
My brother died of a massive heart attack at age 37. It happens and really sucks. No parent should bury their children. My father seriously stressed himself so much that he passed away 4 months later.
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Wow. Sorry to learn of this Mags.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Very sad news. He is definitely an example of a major epidemic of obesity in America. People need to start eating healthier and exercising or there will be many more sad stories just like him.
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I agree with your general sentiments 100%. Proper diet and an active lifestyle have an extremely significant impact on health, longevity and quality of life. And, while a poor diet and a sedentary lifestlye definitely contribute to our collectively high rate of heart desiease, and related ailments, there is also a genetic component. Some people, no matter how well they eat and how much they exercise are genetically predisposed to heart disease. Same goes for obesity. Some people, for genetic reasons will never be trim and fit, no matter how hard they try.

In Traylor's case, I suspect there were multiple contributing factors. He probably didn't eat as well as he should have, but he wasn't a total couch potato. He was a professional athlete, and while not in world class physical condition, I'm sure he got far more exercise than the average American. It's not like he was sitting around doing nothing 24/7/365. There are a lot of people that are much more obese and much less active that live well past the age of 34. It truly is sad when anyone dies this young, for any reason.

BNM
 
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Someone just mentioned him the summer camp thread. I went to college with this guy. RIP. Sorry to hear that about your brother, magnifier. That's horrible.
 
Boob-No-More said:
In Traylor's case, I suspect there were multiple contributing factors.
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Another contributing factor was stress from the legal system over whether he would have to do time for a tax problem. He had a probation violation a couple of years ago and was playing under the stress for the last 2 years of the decision still to come. Many people's lives are shortened by heart attacks after battles with the legal system.
 
He had aorta surgery long before he was drafted and scouts knew about it. He always had to hold himself back and finally when he had a heart problem, the NBA wouldn't touch him anymore. His last year he played a lot of minutes. The career didn't end due to his inability to play, a lack of talent, or a non-heart injury. Same thing happened to John Shumate, a Suns starter who was the best center Bill Walton ever faced in college, but Shumate is still alive.
 
jlprk said:
Same thing happened to John Shumate, a Suns starter who was the best center Bill Walton ever faced in college, but Shumate is still alive.
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I probably saw every college game John Shumate played. Back then, Notre Dame, under Digger Phelps, was relevant in basketball. Back in those days, before cable and satellite TV, I was lucky enough to live close enough to South Bend to get WNDU over air and they broadcast all of Notre Dame's football and basketball games. I was also close enough to Chicago to get the Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and DePaul games over the air. DePaul had some great teams back then under Ray Meyer. Of course, IU and even Purdue had some great teams and players back then. And then, there was also Larry Bird at Indiana State. If you liked great basketball, it was a fantastic place and time to grow up.

I moved to the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina in the early 1980s and got to see NC State and UNC win national titles and Duke make it to the title game. I got to see a lot of great college basketball and some of the all time great college players back in the 70s and 80s. Shumate was indeed an outstanding college player, but I believe Bill Walton said the best center he ever faced in college was the one he practiced against - Swen Nater.

BNM
 
I considered mentioning Nater, but my post was already too far afield from the thread and I figured I'd confuse the reader. Yes, Nater was 2 inches taller than Shumate and coached by Wooden, so he was better. I tried a couple of wordings and used "faced" in college, hoping that includes only game opponents. All that to avoid mentioning that Nater was better.

You've told the Indiana stuff before but I didn't know you then lived in North Carolina at its peak. I've told the story before how all UCLA games were telecast (not just on a college station, apparently as you had, but on the #1 non-network Los Angeles station) right after the live game ended. So the starting time was unpredictable. I've also told the story that in high school Trig I sat next to 2 guys on the school paper who would happily gab to each other, "Did you see that move Big Lew put on last night when...." I didn't understand what they meant and I'd ask, "Who's Big Lew?" They got to sit under the backboard as student journalists for free. There was no college game coverage in the high school paper.
 
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