Former NBA player Tarpley dies at 50

Roy Tarpley, the former Dallas Mavericks star center whose NBA career was cut short by drug abuse, died Friday at age 50. Tarpley died Friday afternoon at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, near Dallas. No cause of death was given, although the Dallas Morning News reported that several Dallas players were told the cause was liver failure. The 7-foot Tarpley was the seventh overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft out of Michigan. He played for the Mavericks until October 1991, when he was kicked out of the NBA for using cocaine. Tarpley averaged 12.6 points and 10.0 rebounds in 280 regular-season games. – AP