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Police look at Wright's death as a homicide
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Published: July 30, 2010
MEMPHIS, Tenn.
Lorenzen Wright, a former NBA player whose body was found in the woods near Memphis, was shot to death and the case is being investigated as a homicide, police said yesterday.
Family members had said Wednesday that police told them Wright's body had been found near an apartment complex. Police delayed confirmation, awaiting an autopsy that confirmed the identity based on dental records, authorities said in a statement. The Shelby County medical examiner's office reported that Wright died of a gunshot wound, police said.
Wright, a 34-year-old Memphis native, was last seen around midnight July 18. His family filed a missing-person report with police on July 22, but investigators said as recently as Monday that they didn't suspect foul play.
Police said a 911 call was placed from Wright's cell phone early on July 19. Investigators determined the call came from the area where the body was found and on Wednesday searched the woods and found Wright.
Wright, 6-11, played 13 years in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers. Wright left the University of Memphis early for the NBA, and the Clippers made him a lottery pick with the No. 7 selection.
More basketball
● Jason Collins, who saw little action at the end of Atlanta's bench under Mike Woodson last season, is returning as a backup center for the Hawks under new Coach Larry Drew.
The Hawks re-signed Collins yesterday.
Collins appeared in only 24 games last season, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds while averaging only 4.7 minutes.
Drew says the 7-foot Collins, a nine-year veteran, gives the team inside depth and a veteran presence in the locker room.
Collins previously played with New Jersey, Memphis and Minnesota.
● Eddie House's agent said that House, a veteran guard, has agreed to terms on a $2.8 million, two-year contract with the Miami Heat.
House was a second-round draft pick by the Heat in 2000 and spent his first three NBA seasons with them. He has since played for eight other teams, including Boston and New York last season, when he averaged seven points in 68 games off the bench.
His career average is 7.6 points, and he's a 39-percent shooter from 3-point range, with a reputation for making clutch baskets.
College football
● Lane Kiffin said the Tennessee Titans' lawsuit against him and the University of Southern California is more about geography than coaching etiquette.
Kiffin said he wasn't allowed to say much yesterday at the Pac-10 media day about the suit facing Kiffin and the Trojans, who angered Titans coach Jeff Fisher by abruptly hiring Kennedy Pola, the running-backs coach, last weekend.
Yet Kiffin couldn't stop himself from saying that the lawsuit has something to do with his stormy history in the state of Tennessee.
Kiffin left the University of Tennessee in January after just 14 months running the program to take his self-described dream job at Southern Cal.
The lawsuit says Kiffin violated Pola's contract by making contact without permission.
● Coach Bobby Petrino of Arkansas says quarterback Ryan Mallett is participating in "controlled-situation running" as he finishes his recovery from a broken foot.
Petrino said yesterday that reports from doctors have been good, and he doesn't expect Mallett to have any real problems during fall practice. Arkansas hits the field Aug. 5.
Mallett broke his left foot in February and was extremely limited during spring practice.
Mallett passed for 3,624 yards and 30 touchdowns during the 2009 season, when the Razorbacks went 8-5.
Hockey
● The Atlanta Thrashers avoided arbitration with restricted free agent Andrew Ladd by signing him to a one-year, $2.35 million deal yesterday. Ladd, a 24-year-old forward, had 17 goals and 21 assists with the Chicago Blackhawks last season before he was traded to Atlanta on July 1 for defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy and a second-round pick in 2011.
Ladd already has played on two Stanley Cup winners. He was with Carolina's 2006 championship team before helping the Blackhawks win this year's Cup.
The Thrashers also avoided arbitration by signing forward Ben Eager on Wednesday. Eager was acquired from Chicago in June as part of the trade that also sent Dustin Byfuglien and two other players to Atlanta.
● Buffalo Sabres forward Tim Kennedy was awarded a one-year, $1 million contract by an arbitrator yesterday, two days after his hearing was held in Toronto.
As a rookie last season, Kennedy made $635,000 while scoring 26 points in 78 games in a defensive role for Buffalo.
The Sabres have no option but to accept the contract terms. Teams cannot walk away from an arbitrator's ruling that is lower than $1,611,180, per the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement.
● General Manager Stan Bowman of the Chicago Blackhawks expects to learn on Saturday whether his salary cap-squeezed team will be able to keep Antti Niemi, a restricted free-agent goaltender.
After Bowman and Niemi's agent were unable to reach contract terms for Niemi, 26, the case advanced to an arbitration hearing yesterday in Toronto.
Both Bowman and the NHL Players Association presented their cases and undisclosed one-year salary figures to an arbitrator, who has 48 hours to make a call.
The arbitrator can choose either side's offer, or any amount between the two, per the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement.
Miscellaneous
● Appalachian State said in a release yesterday that Amy Herrington has resigned as softball coach to accept a position as an assistant coach at Chattanooga.
Herrington led the Mountaineers to a 64-91 (.413) overall record in three seasons. Appalachian put together the first winning season in the 10-year history of the program with a 27-25 record this spring.
"We're certainly disappointed in Coach Herrington's decision to step down but understand the personal and professional opportunities that the move allows her family to pursue," Charlie Cobb, ASU's director of athletics, said in the statement.
"We appreciate everything that she has done to raise the level of a relatively young program during her six years here. We hope to bring in a new coach as soon as possible that will continue the program's climb and bring softball championships to Appalachian in the near future."
● David Daggett, 50, of Winston-Salem, completed the Ironman USA triathlon in Lake Placid (2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon) in 11 hours, 31 minutes last Sunday. He was 25th among 308 in his age division.
Daggett has completed 154 triathlons, including 19 finishes at the Ironman distance.
● Clemson reported seven NCAA secondary violations over the past six months, nearly half of them involving food.
One assistant coach gave out a dinner per diem after their team returned to campus from a trip. Another assistant handed out $6 for breakfast when that team got back to school at a very early hour. And a restaurant near campus was sent a cease-and-desist letter from Clemson's compliance office for offering a 10-percent discount to Tigers athletes and not everyone else.
All athletes involved had their eligibility restored after donating the cost of the impermissible extra benefit to charity. Clemson makes its NCAA secondary violations public twice a year because of Freedom of Information Act requests made by The AP and other media outlets.
● U.S. soccer coach Bob Bradley plans to announce his roster early next week for an Aug. 10 exhibition against Brazil at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Bradley's contract runs through the end of the year, and the U.S. Soccer Federation hasn't said whether it will offer a new deal to Bradley, who coached the Americans to a second-round finish in this year's World Cup.
Team spokesman Michael Kammarman said a Monday or Tuesday roster announcement was likely.
New coach Mano Menezes selected just four players from Brazil's World Cup team for his 24-man roster. Bradley is expected to pick mostly veterans for the match.
CORRECTIONS
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