Ex-NBA GM, UT Basketball Legend Lance Blanks Dead At 56 Ex-NBA GM Lance Blanks Dead At 56 ... UT Basketball Legend Exclusive 2.9K 5/4/2023 2:22 PM PT

Lance Blanks -- a Univ. of Texas men's basketball legend who later in life worked as the Phoenix Suns' general manager -- has died, TMZ Sports has learned.

A spokesperson for the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office in Texas tells us ... Blanks passed away on Wednesday.

A cause and manner of death are not yet known ... the rep said exam results are still pending.

Blanks began his collegiate hoops career at the Univ. of Virginia in 1985 ... but transferred to Texas after two seasons, and became a superstar there. In his two years at UT in 1988 and 1989, he averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He was later inducted into Texas' Hall of Honor in 2007.

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The shooting guard went on to be selected by the Pistons in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft following his UT career ... and played three seasons in the league for Detroit and Minnesota.

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He later played overseas -- before he returned to the States to work as an exec in the NBA.

Blanks spent time as the director of scouting for the San Antonio Spurs, before he became the Cleveland Cavaliers' assistant general manager. In 2010, he was named the GM of the Suns.

Years after he left his role in Phoenix in 2013, he signed on to broadcast UT games for the Longhorn Network.

Former NFL star Eric Metcalf, a UT alum and Blanks' good friend, appeared to comment on Blanks' passing on Thursday on Twitter ... writing, "Everyone hug your family and friends and tell them you love them. We lost a dear friend and brother. People are going through things and you never know it!!!"

Several of Blanks' family members, including his two daughters, released statements on his passing late Thursday afternoon.

"My dad was my person," Riley Blanks Reed said. "He was my teacher, my idol, my best friend. The love I have for him is simply immeasurable."

Added Bryn Blanks Lewis, "My heart aches for the tragic loss of my daddy. He was our father, our rock, our superhero -- the one who was there when we needed him most. Life will never be the same without him."

Blanks was 56 years old.