Troy "Escalade" Jackson, streetball legend larger than life and the younger brother of former NBA player Mark Jackson, died in his sleep early Sunday, according to the New York Post.
The 6-foot-10, 400-pound Jackson, 35, was in Los Angeles of the NBA All-Star Weekend. The cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy.
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Jackson, born in Jamaica, Queens, he played college basketball at Louisville, but became one of the most famous streetball players of all time with And Mixtape Tour, a traveling exhibition of basketball which he joined in 2002.
He also traveled for two years with the Harlem Globetrotters and most recently raced the ball streetball team.
"He traveled the world and touched so many lives," said Mark Jackson, the Post of Los Angeles. "He will be sorely missed. Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. God is still good."
Many NBA players past and present as Shaquille O'Neal and Rick Fox yesterday gave his condolences to their Twitter accounts.
"My heart goes out to Mark Jackson and his family who lost his brother last night, the Escalade," O'Neal Twitter. "We lost a great love u. I'm climbing."
Off the court, Troy Jackson, who appeared on the cover of the June 13, 2005 Sports Illustrated magazine, was an advocate for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases after losing her brother to AIDS in the 1980's.
friend, Ron Naclerio, coach of Cardozo High School in Queens, called the big man "every kind."
"He was the gentle giant that once was," Naclerio said.
Mark Jackson, born in Brooklyn, who now works for ESPN as a commentator on NBA games, played 17 seasons, mostly with the Knicks, Clippers and Pacers.
