Family, friends grieve for ex-NBA player Lorenzen Wright?

latest news sacramento kings image

Killuminat

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Relatives and friends of Lorenzen Wright gathered Wednesday and grieved for the former NBA player who has been missing for 10 days, as police investigated the discovery of a man's body outside of Memphis.



Wright's uncle, Curtis Wright, told The Associated Press that police called the player's father, Herb Wright, Wednesday afternoon with the news he had died.

Sgt. Alyssa Macon-Moore of the Memphis Police Department wrote in an e-mail to the AP that police were investigating the death of an unidentified man beside a wooded area about 15 miles south of downtown Memphis. Asked if the man was Wright, she wrote they could not confirm the victim's identity Wednesday night.

The family issued a statement through a cousin of Lorenzen Wright, Camella Logan: "Lorenzen's family has come together to mourn his loss and honor his legacy. We appreciate your thoughts, prayers and condolences as they are comforting at this very difficult time. Additionally, we ask that you please respect our privacy as we try to cope with his sudden loss."

Wright's mother, Deborah Marion, arrived at the scene Wednesday night with a handful of family members. She crossed the crime scene tape and tried to talk to police when she was told to move back. She sat in a TV van before returning to the tape. Two officers then let her through.

The distraught Marion then started running down the road toward the crime scene before being stopped by an officer. She spoke with officers, then walked back past reporters without speaking straight to a van.

The 34-year-old Wright was last seen July 18 when he was expected to fly out of town. His family filed a missing person report July 22.

Wright played 13 years in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers with 17 games in the 2008-09 season. Wright left the University of Memphis early for the NBA, and the Clippers made him a lottery pick with the No. 7 selection overall.

He averaged eight points and 6.4 rebounds in 778 career games.

By nightfall, nearly 200 people had visited the road blocked off by police while TV news helicopters showed investigators scouring the grounds for evidence. Police brought in a mobile command center that further blocked off the scene.

Former NBA star Penny Hardaway, who played at Memphis two years before Wright, said he heard the news from a friend and went to the scene near where the body was found.

"I cried. The emotions hit me immediately. It's just sad because we lost a good person and a brother," Hardaway said.

Elliot Perry, another friend and former Memphis player, also was at the scene. Wendy Wilson, who once worked as Wright's personal assistant, also was there and said Wright often used the road police had cordoned off as a shortcut to his mother's house.

"He was a good person. He did not deserve to die this way. God is not pleased with this," Wilson said.

Memphis Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley issued a statement late Wednesday saying, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lorenzen Wright. We lost a member of the Grizzlies family. Lorenzen delighted fans on the court with his passion and off the court with his generosity in a Memphis community that watched him grow throughout his playing career ..."
R.I.P. Lorenzen Wright

Answer
that's terrible news

R.I.P. Lorenzen Wright

Sacramento Kings 2010 Trade Pool Options. Who do you want?

misterchu8

Hey all, there's a lot of talk about the 2010 trade pool for teams like New York, Detroit and New Jersey (AKA Brooklyn), but since I'm a local Kings fan, I wanted to see some opinions on who you think we should try and pick up in this 2010 deep pool of talent?

Since there are a of ton talents in the unrestricted free agency list in 2010, I'll list my 5 personal favorites that I think the Kings should/ will have an opportunity to get. For a full list just visit this link. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=FreeAgents-09-10

1. Chris Bosh - The Kings should try to find a way to get Bosh because they desperately need a "real" front court player that can bang down low and is a threat on the outside. No offense to Miller or Hawes, but neither can bang down low, and Mikki Moore, although he's often found down low pulling boards, he isn't at all a sharp shooter. Jason Thompson has lots of potential, but he's not quite the star yet, I think he needs a Chris Bosh to set a prime example for him and pave the way for a great Kings future.

2. Lebron James - A long shot in the dark, but if by any chance in hell the Kings can pick him up, they should. I don't think there should be much explanation why (we already know how good this guy is). Any team would love to pick him up. However, he's looking for a multiple Championship team, and I don't know if they Kings are quite at that caliber, but a guy can dream can't he? And if he does get picked up by us, he'll really be a "King" James.

3. Dwayne Wade - I'm not sure Wade would appreciate going from a decent team in the East to a below decent team in the West. Right now he's averaging a little over 27 points, 4.9 rebounds, and almost 8 assists per game. Which would help the Kings indefinitely, but, just as Lebron, it's unlikely he's going to be headed to Sacramento any time soon. Also picking Dwayne Wade up would mean that Kevin Martin would be coming off of the bench or be forced to play Small Forward, something that to my knowledge he hasn't done before, but I could be wrong. I think that would be a lethal combination. Personally I would rather have Kevin Martin play SF over Francisco Garcia if he has to. A D-Wade pick up would be a no brainer for me.

4. Yao Ming - Although I might be contradicting myself at this point by wanting to pick up Yao Ming (explained later, see pick 1). I think he's a guy you can still build your young team around. He's not a big banger, but his presence down low is much more effective than Hawes or Miller. Right now he's averaging about 19 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists per game, that's a double-double every game. I think the Kings desperately need that from their Center. (In case your wondering Miller averages 13.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.8 rebounds per game and Hawes averages 12.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game). None of which really compare to Yao.

5. Richard Jefferson - We really need a solid Small Forward like Richard Jefferson. This guy looks like he's well fed at home, he's built like a man is supposed to be built, not like the skeletal frames of Salmons or Garcia. He's a consistent player that will give 15-20 points every night and at least 5 rebounds, which is more than I can say for Garcia who has yet to see any playing time season due to his injury, or John Salmons, who isn't a bad player in of himself but would be more useful coming off of the bench for Jefferson. RJ is durable, time tested and I believe can help lift our Kings franchise into the playoffs.

Let me know what you think, thanks for reading.

Answer
The Kings have done a good job to rebuild trading Bibby and Artest. I think they could have gotten more, but they still got good value..AND CAP SPACE.

Sac-town is a good market and I think they have a chance at one of the 5.

I think Wade would be a good fit in Sacramento. I think Detroit will make the biggest push for Bosh after NY and the then Brooklyn Nets battle for LeBron.

I'm not a big Melo fan, but if he's a last option, that isn't bad at all!

I like RJ too, he is also you. If the Kings can get both CB4 and Richard Jefferson, they have 2 great pieces to battle for a championship, because by then I think guys like Francisco Garcia and Donte Greene and Spencer Hawes could be very good.

*I also want to see the Maloof Brothers and co. back in the playoffs.

good questions

thanks for all the details..shows you care

Powered by Yahoo! Answers