BROOKLYN — The death of a former New York Knicks player whose body was found in Lexus on a Brooklyn street is now being treated as a murder, police sources told DNAinfo New York.
Michael Wright, 35, a college basketball star drafted by the Knicks in 2001, was found inside his Lexus SUV in Midwood at roughly 11 a.m. on Tuesday on East 16th Street and Avenue I. The car had been there since last Sunday, police sources said.
Police initially believed Wright had committed suicide because a plastic bag was found partially covering his head, sources said.
But detectives have determined that he had a severe head wound that likely came from a blow to his head, sources said.
“We are treating the death as a homicide pending a determination of the Medical Examiner,” a police source said.
Wright, who lived in New Jersey, had friends in Brooklyn, sources said.
Investigators were trying to speak with them as well as tracking his final movements and cellphone calls, sources said.
Detectives are also investigating whether he was killed by someone he met on a gay dating app, which was open in his phone, sources said.
Wright hails from Chicago and was a star forward with the University of Arizona Wildcats between 1998 and 2000.
Very saddened by the news of former Wildcat Michael Wright's passing. He and his family are in our thoughts. #RIP pic.twitter.com/EE5N0DW2I5
— Arizona Basketball (@APlayersProgram) November 11, 2015Although he was drafted by the Knicks, he never made the team's roster and played the last 14 years in Europe with basketball teams in Poland, Turkey and France.
He returned to New Jersey last February and was planning to travel to Europe to play again, his relatives told the Chicago Sun-Times Wednesday.
