![\"Bison](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-253715.jpg\")
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Bison Dele was part of the 1997 championship-winning Bulls teamCredit: GETTY<\/p>\n
Born as Brian Williams, Dele was selected as the 10th pick in the 1991 NBA<\/a> Draft.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-11 center was a talented player but struggled to make an impact at the Magic and later the Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n He blossomed into a star when he joined the Los Angeles Clippers in 1995 and averaged 15.8 points and 7.6 rebounds that season.<\/p>\n Dele’s status in the sport grew even more when, after a contract dispute with the Clippers, he joined the Chicago Bulls<\/a> in 1997.<\/p>\n He played an important role as their backup center during their championship season. <\/p>\n Such was Dele’s impact, he joined the Detroit Pistons<\/a> on a contract worth $45 million.<\/p>\n However, in a shocking turn of events, Dele retired from the NBA in 1999.<\/p>\n The then 30-year-old exited the league with $36.4 million remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n Why did Bison Dele retire early?<\/p>\n Dele’s decision to walk away from the sport came out of his desire to go sailing and spend extensive time at sea.<\/p>\n With $16 million in career earnings, Dele was well-resourced for his new adventure. <\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Dele (left) left the Bulls after one seasonCredit: GETTY 4<\/p>\n Dele disappeared in 2002Credit: GETTY<\/p>\n Dele traveled across multiple oceans, spending time travelling the Mediterranean, Australia, and the South Pacific.<\/p>\n In 2002, Dele bought a catamaran\u00a0for $650,000\u00a0to enhance his sailing experience. <\/p>\n Early that year, Dele and his girlfriend Serena Karlan were joined at sea by his brother Kevin<\/p>\n What happened to Bison Dele?<\/p>\n In the summer of 2002, Dele and his girlfriend went missing<\/a> along with the captain of his boat, Bertrand Saldo.<\/p>\n It was a case that made national headlines as there were no clues at the time as to what happened.<\/p>\n The US Coast Guard initially failed to solve the case.<\/p>\n Rare footage shows Michael Jordan make feelings clear on ring culture as LeBron James’ comments cause stir<\/p>\n However, there would be a breakthrough in September of that year, when a sting operation by Phoenix Police<\/a>, led to Dele’s brother Kevin being detained on suspicion of killing his brother – allegations he always denied.<\/p>\n At the time, he was also being chased by the FBI after a man fitting his description<\/a> reportedly piloted Dele’s\u00a0catamaran into a harbour.<\/p>\n Kevin later intentionally overdosed on insulin and slipped into a coma, before dying on September 27, 2002 in a California hospital.<\/p>\n The bodies of the three other people aboard the vessel were not found and never have been.<\/p>\n A memorial service for both brothers was held in October 2002.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Dele left the Pistons and the NBA in 1999Credit: GETTY<\/p>\n![\"Dele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/crop-3447054.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1396071.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-51622673.jpg\")
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754742191_932_COMP-bulls.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bison Dele’s death is one of the biggest tragedies and mysteries in sports. It’s a story that transcends…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,45848,45853,45852,45854,45847,2066,36995,7214,45850,1385,45857,45858,590,30981,36996,85,45849,45851,45856,45855],"class_list":["post-55352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bison-dele","tag-bison-dele-brother","tag-bison-dele-girlfriend","tag-bison-dele-sailing","tag-bison-williams-dele","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-dennis-rodman","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-did-bison-dele-die","tag-michael-jordan","tag-michael-jordan-news","tag-michael-jordan-teammates","tag-nba","tag-nba-news","tag-scottie-pippen","tag-sports","tag-what-happened-to-bison-dele","tag-where-is-bison-dele","tag-who-is-bison-dele","tag-why-did-bison-dele-retire-early"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}