DALLAS (AP) — Lance Blanks, who played in the NBA for three seasons and later worked as a scout and front office executive, has died, his family announced Thursday. He was 56 years old.
His family said in a statement distributed by the National Basketball Association that Blank died Wednesday in Dallas.
He was the former general manager for the Phoenix Suns, assistant general manager for the Cleveland Cavaliers and a scout for the San Antonio Spurs and most recently the Los Angeles Clippers. Blanks also played for the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Lance was a light to everyone who knew him,” said NBA executive Joe Dumars, a fellow Detroit teammate. “It has been a pleasure to call him one of my closest friends. I am forever grateful for all the support he has given me over the years. His legacy will be lived on, not only by his family, but by all those whose lives he touched for the better.”
Blanks played college basketball at Virginia and Texas, which inducted him into the Longhorns Hall of Honor in 2007. The Pistons drafted him in the first round in 1990.
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