Lorenzen Wright facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lorenzen Wright

Wright in 2005
Personal information
Born	(1975-11-04)November 4, 1975 Oxford, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	July 19, 2010(2010-07-19) (aged 34) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
High school	Lafayette (Oxford, Mississippi) Booker T. Washington (Memphis, Tennessee)
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College	Memphis (1994–1996)
NBA Draft	1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Pro career	1996–2009
Career history
1996–1999	Los Angeles Clippers
1999–2001	Atlanta Hawks
2001–2006	Memphis Grizzlies
2006–2008	Atlanta Hawks
2008	Sacramento Kings
2008–2009	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
Consensus second-team All-American (1996) First-team All-Conference USA (1996) McDonald's All-American (1994) Second-team Parade All-American (1994)
Career NBA statistics
Points	6,191 (8.0 ppg)
Rebounds	4,943 (6.4 rpg)
Assists	622 (0.8 apg)
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  United States Summer Universiade Gold 1995 Fukuoka Team competition

Lorenzen Vern-Gagne Wright (November 4, 1975 – July 19, 2010) was an American professional basketball player for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He was drafted seventh overall in the 1996 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers and played for the Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Early life and college

Raised in Oxford, Mississippi, Wright played for Lafayette High School in Mississippi before moving to Memphis, where he spent his senior year playing for Booker T. Washington High School. He played all levels of basketball in Memphis – high school, collegiate, and professional. His father, Herb, was a professional basketball player who competed in Finland, and once had a tryout with the Utah Jazz. When Wright was seven years old, Herb was working for the Memphis Police Department when he was paralyzed by a gunshot to the back.

Wright was recognized as a Third Team All-American by the Associated Press as a sophomore at the University of Memphis. Wright was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Professional career

Wright was selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1996 NBA Draft out of the University of Memphis. On April 26, 1997, as a rookie, Wright scored what would be a postseason career-high 17 points in a Game 2 loss against the Utah Jazz. The Clippers would go on to lose the series. The following season, on December 26, 1997, Wright scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Wright moved on to the Atlanta Hawks in 1999, and averaged a career high 12.4 points per game with them during the 2000-01 NBA season. He was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies on June 27, 2001. On January 6, 2003, Wright scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 106-102 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Wright returned to the Hawks in 2006.

On February 16, 2008, he was involved in a multiplayer trade, going from Atlanta to Sacramento for Mike Bibby.

He held career averages of 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, playing in 778 (793 including playoffs) NBA games over 13 seasons.

Personal life

Wright founded the Sierra Simone Wright Scholarship Fund after the death of his infant daughter in March 2003.

During the summer of 2003, he returned to the University of Memphis to finish his degree.

During his first stint in Atlanta, Wright and three other Memphis-native NBA players (Todd Day, Penny Hardaway, and Elliot Perry) provided financial assistance to Travis Butler, a Memphis orphan whose tragic story garnered national attention.

Disappearance and death

Wright went missing on July 18, 2010, and was found dead 10 days later in a wooded area on Callis-Cutoff Road just west of Hacks Cross Road. According to his ex-wife, Wright left his home in Collierville, Tennessee on the night of July 18, 2010, and was not seen or heard from again. His family filed a missing-persons report on July 22. The case was investigated as a homicide. In December 2017, his ex-wife Sherra Wright-Robinson was charged with facilitating his murder; a year and a half later, she pled guilty. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Her friend, Billy Ray Turner, was convicted of first-degree murder, and received a life sentence in prison. Widespread coverage of Wright's disappearance, as well as his status as a popular Memphis figure, led to the prosecution of his murder being highly publicized in Memphis. Wright is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

See also

In Spanish: Lorenzen Wright para niños

• List of solved missing person cases

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs