If you were watching college hoops in the late nineties, you remember the sound. It wasn't just a squeak of sneakers or the thud of a ball. It was a literal crash. In 1996, during a game against Ball State, Robert Traylor—the man everyone knew as "Tractor"—tore down an entire backboard. He didn't just dunk; he demolished the infrastructure of the game. Glass rained down on his massive 300-pound frame, and honestly, he just stood there. He looked like he expected it to happen.
Tractor Traylor basketball player was a name that carried weight, both literally and figuratively. He was a force of nature at the University of Michigan, a guy who moved with the grace of a point guard despite carrying the build of a defensive tackle. But ask a casual NBA fan about him today, and you’ll likely hear one thing: "Isn't he the guy traded for Dirk Nowitzki?"
Yeah, he is. But that’s a lazy way to remember a human being who was way more complex than a "bust" label or a lopsided draft-day trade.
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The Michigan Years and the Shattered Glass
Robert DeShaun Traylor grew up in Detroit, playing at Murray-Wright High School. He was a local legend before he ever stepped foot in Ann Arbor. When he arrived at Michigan, he was part of a frontcourt that felt like a brick wall. Standing 6'8", he was shorter than your average NBA center, but he was wide. Really wide.
You’ve gotta understand how rare his movement was. Usually, guys that big are "space eaters." They stand in the lane and wait. Not Robert. He had these soft hands and a nimble crossover that made him look like a glitch in a video game. During his junior year, he averaged 16.2 points and 10 rebounds. He was the MVP of the 1997 NIT and the 1998 Big Ten Tournament.
Then the scandal hit.
It’s a bit of a tragedy that the University of Michigan ended up scrubbing his name from the record books. Because of the Ed Martin booster investigation, those titles and those points technically "don't exist." But anyone in the stands that night against Ball State knows they saw what they saw. You can’t vacate a shattered backboard.
That Infamous 1998 Trade
Let's talk about the elephant in the room. The 1998 NBA Draft. The Dallas Mavericks took Traylor with the 6th overall pick and immediately sent him to the Milwaukee Bucks. In exchange, Dallas got a lanky German kid named Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity.
At the time? People thought Milwaukee won the trade. Seriously.
The media was skeptical of European players back then. They called Dirk "soft" and "overhyped." Meanwhile, Traylor was seen as a "can't-miss" beast. Don Nelson, the Mavs GM, was mocked by some for the move. Looking back, it’s one of the most lopsided trades in sports history. Dirk went on to be a Top 7 all-time scorer and an MVP. Traylor... struggled.
But calling him a bust feels kinda harsh when you look at the context. Traylor played seven seasons in the NBA. He appeared in 438 games. He wasn't a superstar, averaging about 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds, but he was a serviceable big man who could pass and defend. He just couldn't keep his weight down, and in an era where the game was starting to get faster, that was a death sentence for his career longevity.
The Heart of the Gentle Giant
Off the court, the guy was different. People who knew him—like his former teammate Willie Mitchell—always talked about his laugh. He was a "bundle of joy." He worked with the Special Olympics. He visited schools. He had this massive, infectious smile that made you forget he could bench press a small car.
But health issues were always lurking. He had surgery on his aorta in 2005. That basically ended his NBA aspirations. Teams were terrified of heart issues after Jason Collier passed away, and Traylor just couldn't get a team to clear him.
He didn't stop playing, though. He loved the game too much. He went to Turkey. He went to Italy. He went to Mexico. Finally, he ended up in Puerto Rico, playing for the Vaqueros de Bayamón. The fans there? They absolutely idolized him. He wasn't a "failed draft pick" there. He was just Tractor.
A Quiet End in Isla Verde
The end came way too soon. In May 2011, Traylor was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico. He was only 34 years old. He had been talking to his wife on the phone when the line suddenly went dead. A massive heart attack took him.
It’s a heavy story.
When you look at the life of the Tractor Traylor basketball player, you see a guy who was caught between his immense talent and a body that couldn't quite keep up. He dealt with tax issues, scandals he didn't fully understand as a teenager, and the constant shadow of Dirk Nowitzki. But he also lived. He played. He smiled.
What We Can Learn from the Tractor
If you're a fan of the game or just someone looking at the history of the league, don't just look at the trade chart. Look at the film from '97. Watch him skip down the court after a dunk.
- Weight isn't just a fitness stat: For athletes like Traylor, it was a constant battle against physics and genetics that eventually took a toll on his heart.
- The "Bust" label is a lie: Playing 7 years in the world's toughest league is an achievement 99% of basketball players will never reach.
- Legacy is about people: Ask the kids in Detroit or the fans in Bayamón about him. They don't talk about Dirk. They talk about the big man with the even bigger heart.
To truly understand Robert Traylor, you have to look past the box score. Start by watching the 1996 Michigan vs. Ball State highlights on YouTube—specifically the moment the rim gives up. Then, look up his 2010 Defensive Player of the Year highlights from Puerto Rico. It shows a man who never gave up on the game, even when the "big time" moved on without him.