What is Going on Here?
Remember what happened at the beginning of the investigation into the death of beloved quarterback Steve McNair just over a year ago? Remember all the unanswered questions, shady occurrences, and implications that begged you to believe that something more was going on beneath the surface? Remember how the investigation eventually bore out all the details of the gruesome ordeal?
We're just learning the details of the Lorenzen Wright situation, and something seems very familiar about the way its playing out. It seems reminiscent of the McNair case. I'm not implying by any means that the cases are even remotely related--simply that the process of the investigation and the details surrounding the death are familiar.
First, I want to address the bizarre nature of this case. Wright, a Top 10 pick in the 1996 Draft and a 13-year NBA veteran, went missing on July 18. News broke that his body was found 2 days ago, on July 28 in the woods near Winchester. At this point, we're all wondering what took place between the last time he was seen alive and when he was found dead.
Some of those details started coming in over the last 48 hours, most notably a 911 call that was placed from Wright's cell phone. The call took place around 1 AM on July 19, roughly an hour after he was last seen leaving his ex-wife's house. Roughly a dozen gunshots are heard in the background of this call, following an unclear male voice.
Next, we find out that about six weeks ago, three armed men showed up on the doorstep of Wright's ex-wife looking for Wright. The ex-wife, Sherra Wright, had kept quiet about the encounter until this week because the gunmen threatened her to not tell.
I'm very interested to hear as the investigation connects the dots between some crucial junctures in this story. While heartbroken by an apparently ruthless murder and the loss of a man, father, and ex-husband, I am curious to know why he placed a 911 call, why there were gunshots heard, why he went missing, and why his cold body was found in the woods. I am curious to know what he was into and who he was into it with.
On the topic, it seems like there is a trend developing trend of athletes ending up dead after getting caught up with the wrong people.
I don't want to perpetuate former NFL star Sean Taylor as just another victim of black-on-black gun violence, but his home was invaded twice, with nothing taken the first time. The burglars came back a second time (a stupid move for any robber to make, especially after a police report was filed) and shot Taylor. No one knows whether this was the product of some bad past relationships, as was rumored, but this idea wasn't disproven either.
Steve McNair was shot to death in his sleep by his mistress, who then shot herself. This woman, barely half McNair's age, was arrested for DUI just 2 days before their deaths. After McNair bailed her out of jail, she bought a gun from a convicted murderer that was her instrument in the murder-suicide. She was jealous and stressed, and her way of handling it was to end her own and the life of another.
Lorenzen Wright was apparently caught up in some shady business, as evidenced by the testimony about the armed gunmen who were after him far before his death. Taylor and McNair, at best, showed to be poor judges of character. The only difference between these three and countless of their peers is that their lives were violently taken from them.
My question is, why do athletes--with Stephen Jackson and Pac-Man Jones leading the way--so consistently get caught up in such bad, and often dangerous, crowds? Is there something about their wealth, fame, and ego that naturally draws them into relationship with shady people? We know shady people are drawn to them, but why do they appear to meet them halfway? I'm not wealthy, famous, or supremely egotistical, and I don't have the answers.
I am cautious to generalize, because for every gun-wiedling, public-endangering, shady entourage-ing athlete, there's a Manute Bol, Warrick Dunn, or Tim Tebow. Yep, I went to Tim Tebow. Not every athlete is out of control, entitled, and selfish, but it seems to me that we're trending that way. The good ones never make the news, only the bad ones. We're lucky that we've only lost a few to tragedy, yet heartbroken that we've lost a few to tragedy.
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