Miorry Nobitto

Yahoo! Sports - Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor who was born February 1, 1977 in Detroit, Michigan, died May 11, 2011 in his Carolina, Puerto Rico apartment. Allegedly, Traylor died from a massive heart attack. He had been missing for three days before he was discovered at his apartment. A translation of the Vaqueros de Bayamon Facebook page reads: "The center of the Bayamon Cowboys, Robert "Tractor" Traylor, was found dead in his apartment in Isla Verde. The game tonight between Mayaguez and the Cowboys was suspended —.." Traylor, a McDonald's All-American the same year as Kevin Garnett(notes), Vince Carter(notes) and Paul Pierce(notes). was a high school standout before he went on to play for the Michigan Wolverines. In the 1998 NBA Draft, Traylor was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks, but traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Traylor played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 after being traded by the Cavs with Matt Harpring(notes) and Cedric Henderson to the Philadelphia 76ers for Tyrone Hill and Jumaine Jones. He stayed there for one season. In the 2005 offseason, Traylor who was known to have weight problems standing at 6 feet 8 inches and weighing around 300 pounds, had surgery on his aorta. He also signed with the New Jersey Nets before failing a physical examination which caused the deal to be called off. Traylor was 34 years old at time of death.

RIP.  This dude was fun to watch.  After his college career at Michigan he had a pretty well-travelled career in the NBA but it was never boring.  This guy was the original Big Baby, but super-sized.  Not too many players had the balls to stand in his way when he came barelling down the lane.  An original force of nature that will be missed and a life lived obviously too short.