Brother, Where Art Thou?

摘要

Even before he abruptly quit pro-fessional basketball, Bison Dele was a 6-ft. 10-in. enigma. He was powerful on the basketball court, but off it he was reserved. He loved skydiving, but he was also a bookworm who spent hours poring over art and philosophy texts. He earned millions but was known to arrive at work on a skateboard. And in 1998 he changed his given name, Brian Williams, to Bison Dele, as a tribute to his Native American and African ancestors. Dele recovered from depression and a 1992 suicide attempt to play eight seasons with five teams, including a stint with Michael Jordan and the 1997 World Champion Chicago Bulls. But in 1999 he gave up the remaining $35 million on his contract, telling his agent he was going to do something "to make the world better." So it seemed as if he might have embarked on another existential adventure when he disappeared in waters near Papeete, Tahiti. Surely he was reading Sartre on some remote beach. But authorities inspecting his abandoned yacht last week found blood traces and gunpowder residue from a "large-caliber" weapon, though no bodies. They suspected that Dele, 33, his girlfriend and a crew member had been murdered and said Dele's estranged brother Miles Dabord, 35, was under suspicion.