In some rather concerning news, former University of Memphis standout and 13 year NBA veteran Lorenzen Wright has apparently fallen off the face of the Earth. Friends and family have been unable to locate the 6‘11 big man, who played for 5 different NBA franchises including the LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and most recently Cleveland Cavaliers during the ’08-’09 season. Reportedly, the former lottery pick back in 1996, was last seen over a week ago on July 19th at a local Memphis barbershop.
After failing to latch on with an NBA club for last season, Wright had fallen on a bit of hard times financially and recently had gone through a divorce and lost two homes in Memphis and Atlanta to foreclosure earlier this year. On July 22nd, Wright’s mother officially filed a missing person’s report after her son was last seen visiting his children on the night of July 18th, although some people saw him at a barber shop the following day. According to his ex, Wright apparently just up and left around 2AM while his family was asleep. According to family and friends, the whole situation is rather out of the ordinary since Wright is known to be a jovial and very upbeat person, even during hard times, and up and leaving his children is very uncharacteristic for the former NBA star. There is an internet rumor that Wright is just on a vacation with his father in Europe, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since his mother apparently felt differently by filing a police report.
Wright, after being selected as the #7 pick in the ’96 Draft by the Clippers became a very serviceable front-court player for a long period of time in the league. Although he never quite lived up to being a lottery pick, Lorenzen was a part time starter for both Atlanta and Memphis, with his best years coming during the ‘01 and ‘02 seasons where he averaged career bests in points(12.4 ppg) and rebounds(9.5 rebs). Like most under-achieving lottery picks, Wright was often criticized for his, at times, lack of production, considering he was once one of the highest paid players in the league during the 2000‘s. He has career averages of 8 ppg, 6.4 rebs, and played in more than 775 NBA games.
As recently as during this year’s Hawks playoff series with Milwaukee, Wright was seen at all of their playoff games in support of close personal friend, and current Hawk, Josh Smith. Wright even was reportedly speaking with Hawks management at that time about possibly coming back to the organization for a 3rd go-around with the team. It may have become a possibility, with the Hawks still unable to come to terms with free agent big man Shaquille O’Neal.
Unfortunately, to the average NBA fan, we sometimes forget that the behemoths of the hardwood, that we marvel at and put on a pedestal with their amazing skills on a court, are human just like us and sometimes they fall on hard times as well. Let’s just hope that foul play wasn’t involved and Lorenzen just needed a time out from all that ails him and the stress of dealing with life’s ills. All of us at the Hoopdoctors.com wish you well and a safe and happy return.
Check out some original footage of Wright being selected by the Clippers in the ’96 NBA Draft:
Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
