Former Spurs pick Dwayne Schintzius dies

SAN ANTONIO, April 16 (UPI) -- Former NBA player Dwayne Schintzius has died of leukemia. He was 43.

San Antonio had made Schintzius, who died Sunday, a first-round draft pick out of Florida in 1990. He played one season with the Spurs and then spent time with five other teams before retiring in 1999.

He averaged 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 217 games for the Spurs, Sacramento, New Jersey Nets, Indiana, Los Angeles Clippers and Boston.

Schintzius was first diagnosed with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia in 2009. He was pronounced cancer-free the following year after undergoing a bone marrow transplant, only to have the cancer return early this year.