Ex-NBA Draft Pick Found Dead In SUV … Wound to the Head

In 2001, Wright was drafted to the NY Knicks, but never made it onto the roster, the Daily News reports.

Michael Lebrecht/NBAE/Getty Images Michael Wright, a former Arizona Wildcat who had been drafted by the Knicks and recently was playing overseas, was found dead Tuesday in his SUV in Brooklyn.

Police initially believed Wright’s death was a suicide, but the NY City Medical Examiner’s office classified the death as a homicide, sources said.

He was a smooth-yet-rugged lefty from Chicago (and, as a freshman, a prep teammate of Kevin Garnett at Farragut Academy). He was always a “tweener” at the pro level, being a little small to be an National Basketball Association power forward, and not being quite skilled and nimble enough to play small forward. “I’m trying to figure out different scenarios, and she said she was going to NY to figure out the details”. He went on to play for several teams in Europe until this year and held a dual citizenship in Turkey. Nelson said that Arizona coaches told him that when Wright arrived on campus, he dropped his bags and asked, “Where’s the weight room”.

In fact, they were literally neighbors near the West Side school. It was amusing. When I would come home, Michael would call me because he would see my lights on. He added that the family “kept to themselves” but that is not unusual in the neighborhood.

The vehicle belonged to Wright, a New Jersey resident, however the garbage bags lead police to suspect he may have met with foul play.

A police source told The Daily News was bipolar and may have taken his own life. “It’s something you don’t expect”.