Memories of how Robert "Tractor" Traylor lived life as a Michigan and professional basketball player are fresh for ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill since news of his death Wednesday at age 34.

Hill, like Traylor, grew up in Detroit, and she writes that his generosity was notable.

Hill on Traylor:

He was generous to a fault. Traylor, like a lot of promising, black athletes from troubled backgrounds, never learned to say, "no." He received three years probation after he admitted he prepared a false tax return that hid the assets of his cousin, Quasand Lewis, a convicted drug dealer. He squandered a lot of his NBA millions, admitting in a 2009 Detroit Free Press story that he once took care of as many as 20 friends and family.