José Waitman (born April 28, 1964 – April 17, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Standing at 6 ft 8 (2.03 m) and 220 lbs (100 kg), he was a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He played four seasons of collegiate basketball for South Alabama, from 1982 to 1986. In the 1986–87 season, Waitman played professionally in the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

for

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

(then named Direktbank Noordkop). He won the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

award of the league. From 1988 to 1989, Waitman played for Elitzur Netanya of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

, where he averaged 18.8 points per game. In the same season, he also played in France with Toulouse of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

. The next season, Waitman played for

Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

of the second-tier

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the second-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular se ...

. In 1998–99, Waitman played with

Maccabi Ra'anana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 19 ...

, averaging 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. His son Corliss Waitman also attended South Alabama. Instead of playing basketball, Corliss ended up in the NFL as a punter. He currently plays for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

References

1964 births 2013 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Florida Sportspeople from Milton, Florida South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball players BV Den Helder players Maccabi Ra'anana players Atomics Brussels players Elitzur Netanya B.C. players 20th-century American sportsmen {{1960s-US-basketball-bio-stub