Obituaries
Michael Wright, NBA Draft Pick, Dead in Brooklyn 'Homicide'
The missing basketball player was found in the back of his SUV, which had been parked for days on a leafy residential street in Brooklyn.
The lifeless body of pro basketball player Michael Wright, 35, was discovered Tuesday morning in Brooklyn, according to the NYPD.
By Wednesday evening, the NYC Medical Examiner had ruled his death a homicide.
Police said they found the 35-year-old basketball player, who’d gone missing in New Jersey nearly a week prior, dead in his parked Lexus SUV on East 16th Street near Avenue I in Flatbush, Brooklyn, around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
“NYPD officers discovered a male unconscious and unresponsive in the back seat of the vehicle with what appeared to be trash bags covering his body,” the department said in a statement.
Wright had last been seen Nov. 5 around 3 p.m. in New Jersey, where he’d been staying recently, police said.
As a kid growing up in Chicago, Wright played basketball at Farragut Career Academy High School. Then, in college, he served as a star forward for the Arizona Wildcats.
In 2001, Wright was drafted to the New York Knicks, but never made it onto the roster, the Daily News reports. Instead, he traveled abroad to play for pro teams in Poland, Turkey, Israel, Germany and France.
Members of Wright’s wide fan base took to Twitter on Wednesday to share their shock and sorrow over the young player’s sudden death.
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