Sean Rooks, a former center with the Atlanta Hawks center and a Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach, died Tuesday after interviewing earlier in the day for a job with the New York Knicks. He was 46.
Rooks had visited with Knicks president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills for an assistant coaching position on Jeff Hornacek's staff. He had spent the past two years on Brett Brown's staff in Philadelphia.
The cause of death was not known.
"It is with a profound deal of sadness that we mourn the sudden loss of a beloved son, father and friend, Sean Rooks. Words simply cannot express the heartbreak and shock our entire organization is feeling over this loss," 76ers co-managing owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer said on behalf of the team.
Rooks played for 12 seasons for seven NBA teams after being drafted by Dallas with the 30th overall pick in 1992.
Rooks played there for two years before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a future first-round pick. A season and a half later, he was traded with Christian Laettner to the Atlanta Hawks, where he finished the 1995-96 season.
He played 749 career games with the Mavericks, Timberwolves, Hawks, Lakers, Clippers, New Orleans Hornets and Magic, scoring 4,676 points.
His interview with the Knicks was first reported by Yahoo Sports.
Lute Olson, who coached Rooks in college, called it a "terrible loss for Arizona basketball."
"This is just a horrible shock," Olson said. "Sean was such a wonderful young man with a great disposition. During his time at Arizona, he was always one of the most pleasant individuals to be around."
This article contains information from the Associated Press.
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