Former Dallas Mavericks center Roy Tarpley, whose struggles with drug and alcohol addiction hastened his departure from the NBA limelight, died on Friday afternoon. He was 50.
The Tarrant County medical examiner did not list an official cause of death for Tarpley, who died at a hospital in Arlington, Texas.
"The Dallas Mavericks organization is deeply saddened upon hearing the death of former Sixth Man of the Year Roy Tarpley," the team said in an official statement, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. "Our deepest condolences go out to his family. Mavs fans everywhere will remember him fondly."
Mavs owner Mark Cuban tweeted out his personal sympathies to Tarpley's family as well:
Our condolences go out to the family of Roy Tarpley. RIP Roy. Mavs fans everywhere will remember you fondly
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 10, 2015
The seventh overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft out of Michigan, Tarpley was named the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year in his second season - his last full season as an NBA player due to a rash of suspensions. He remained in the league untill 1991 when he was kicked out of the league for cocaine infractions.
After taking his playing career abroad along with playing in US developmental leagues into his 40s, Tarpley would sue the Mavericks and the NBA in 2007, claiming a refusal to reinstate him was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The parties reached an undisclosed settlement in 2009.
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