Robert Traylor Found Dead In Apartment In Puerto Rico, According To Team

Robert Traylor, the man many called “Tractor,” fit his larger-than-life nickname. And as such, after being found dead in Puerto Rico at the age of 34, many memories are pouring out for him.

Indiana head coach Tom Crean, an assistant coach at Michigan State who recruited Traylor and then coached against him during Traylor’s career at Michigan, took to Twitter to share some stories. Crean called Traylor’s passing “sad, sad news”, and said that he “will remember a guy with just as big a heart as his size” as part of a remembrance that spanned more than a dozen tweets; his feed is worth reading in full.

Team manager Jose Carlos Perez has described Traylor’s death as being of natural causes.

Traylor had recently complained of having trouble breathing, according to teammate Orlando “Guayacán” Santiago. His last reported communication was an Internet phone call to the United Stats with his wife, but he hadn’t been seen out of his home or heard from for multiple days. His family has expressed interest in returning his body to the U.S.

Robert “Tractor” Traylor’s tragic death shook the basketball world Wednesday because he was such a recognizable name despite a short NBA career. Part of this has to do with his size and strength, which is how his nickname developed. Part of it has to do with his tremendous career at the University of Michigan. Part of that has to do with his personality, which made him easy to support.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to view Traylor’s NBA career as a bit of a disappointment. Throughout his career, he battled weight problems and a heart ailment that required surgery in 2006. He never made it back to the NBA, thanks in part to NBA teams increasingly getting worried about heart issues in the wake of Atlanta’s Jason Collier’s death a year earlier, and Traylor instead played in Europe for several seasons. When he did play in the NBA, he only averaged 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 14 minutes a game in seven seasons for four different teams. The 1999 lockout derailed him, as did injuries early in his career, and he never got back on track.

Robert Traylor, the former University of Michigan standout and short-time NBA forward, was found dead in his apartment in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, according to Traylor’s club (via Scott Schroeder). The big man affectionately known as ‘Tractor’ Traylor due to his size and strength was just 34 years old.

Traylor moved to Europe around that time, where he played in Turkey (where he was the MVP of the All-Star Game in 2009) and Italy. He most recently starred for the Bayamon Vaqueros of Puerto Rico’s domestic club.