Former Mavericks center Roy Tarpley dies at 50

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, Former Mavericks’ center Roy Tarpley has died at age 50. Cause of death was not immediately known Friday night, although when the Mavericks arrived in Los Angeles for their game Saturday against the Clippers, several members of the traveling party had been informed that liver failure was at least partly to blame.

His bio via Wikipedia, Tarpley starred at the University of Michigan, and was named a 3rd-Team All-American by the AP in 1985 and 1986. In 1986 he was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, with the seventh pick of the NBA Draft. Tarpley made the NBA All-Rookie Team in his first season.

However, six games into the 1989–90 season, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest, and suspended by the NBA. In March 1991, he drew another suspension after being arrested for DWI again. A few months later, he notched a third violation and was banned from the league for violating the NBA's drug-use policies. He returned to the Mavericks briefly in 1994, but was then permanently banned from the NBA in December 1995 for using alcohol and violating the terms of a court-imposed personal aftercare program. He holds NBA career averages of 12.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

Tarpley also played for Aris, Olympiacos and Iraklis in Greece's top professional basketball league, the A1 Ethniki Championship. In 1993 he won the Saporta Cup with Aris and reached the Euroleague final the following year while playing with Olympiacos against Joventut Badalona in Tel Aviv. That same year he led the Euroleague competition in rebounds with an average of 12.8 per game. With Olympiacos, Tarpley also won the Greek League and the Greek Cup.

In 2006, he played with the Michigan Mayhem of the Continental Basketball Association.

He sued the Mavericks and the NBA, claiming that their refusal to reinstate him violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because his addiction was a disability. The suit was settled out of court in March 2009.