Marvin Webster, a former NBA player for the New York Knicks & Seattle Sonics, was found dead in a bathtub at a Oklahoma hotel.
The ASSOCIATED PRESS reports that the body of the 56-year-old former center was discovered Monday morning at the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Tulsa. Webster had been living at the hotel, and employees had grown concerned when they didn’t see him in the past several days.
The medical examiner’s office is still determining the cause of Webster’s demise, but police don’t believe that Webster was the vicitim of any foul play, and his death was likely caused by an illness.
After playing his college ball at Morgan State, Marvin, nicknamed “The Human Eraser” for his shot-blocking ability, spent 10 seasons in the pros, six with the Knicks. His first pro season was in 1975 with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA, and was still with the team the following season when they joined the NBA.
Webster’s best year was in Seattle in 1978, when his averages of 14 points, 12.6 rebounds & 1.9 blocks per game, helped lead the Sonics to the NBA finals, where they were defeated by the Washington Bullets in 7 games. He joined the Knicks the following season - the same year the Sonics finally won the NBA title. Webster’s last season was in 1987 with the Bucks.
Sadly, this isn’t the first tragedy to strike the Webster family. In 1997, Marvin’s son, Marvin Jr., was only a 19-year-old sophomore at Temple University when he died of a heart attack. Even sadder, Marvin Jr. never got to play a game for the Owls.







9:08 pm on April 9th, 2009
So Marvin Jr dying was not as sad as him never playing a game at Temple?