Wayman Lawrence Tisdale was a jazz bass guitarist and professional basketball player in the NBA. Tisdale was born in Fort Worth, Texas on June 9, 1964. He was one of the most heavily-recruited basketball players in the country. While at the University of Oklahoma from 1982 to 1985, he was a three-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year. The Indiana Pacers made Tisdale the second overall pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.
Tisdale launched his music career with “Power Forward” in 1995 on the Motown Label. Primarily a bass player, he recorded eight albums, with the 2001 release “Face to Face” climbing to No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart.
In March 2007 Tisdale underwent treatment for cancer in his knee. In August 2008 Tisdale had part of his right leg amputated because of the bone cancer. Wayman Tisdale died on the morning of May 15, 2009.