The Top 10 Most Notable Sports Deaths of Our Era

I grew up with Michael Jackson. Had his Off the Wall album cover tacked - that's right, tacked - to my bedroom wall. As a senior member of the 1982 Duncanville Panthers' basketball team - district 9-5A champs, look it up - I picked "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" as...

By Richie Whitt

July 1, 2009

Audio By Carbonatix

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I grew up with Michael Jackson. Had his Off the Wall album cover tacked - that's right, tacked - to my bedroom wall. As a senior member of the 1982 Duncanville Panthers' basketball team - district 9-5A champs, look it up - I picked "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" as our pre-game layup line music.

I'll always remember where I was - Mavericks' draft, Old No. 7 Club - when I heard the news that the King of Pop/Weird had died.

Got me to thinking about other notable deaths in my lifetime, particularly sports passings. What do you know? I happen to have 10 of 'em.

Richie Whitt has been a columnist, reporter, broadcaster and blogger covering Dallas' sports scene for more than 40 years. He wrote the Observer's sports column 2005-2011 and has reported sports on TV, radio and online. You can read his latest work a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/author/richie-whitt">SI.com.

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