Death of former Knicks draft pick Michael Wright ruled a homicide

Michael Wright was found dead in the backseat of his car covered with garbage bags. Police ruled his death a homicide on Wednesday.

Former New York Knicks draft pick Michael Wright was found dead with a head wound inside his car in Brooklyn on Tuesday morning, according to Michael O'Brien of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Wright, 35, was found in the backseat of his car covered with garbage bags. His cause of death is being determined by a coroner. He was reported missing in Bergen County, N.J. in the days leading up to his discovery. 

Though police initially suspected Wright may have committed suicide, city officials now rule it a homicide, ESPN New York’s Ian Begley reports.

The Knicks drafted Wright out of Arizona with the 39th overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft. He never played in the NBA but enjoyed a professional career in Europe from ’01–15. He most recently played with the Cholet Basket club in France.

“He left his French team in February and was planning to go back to Europe and play,” Randolph Berry, Wright’s cousin, toldThe Chicago Tribune. “The last time I talked to him he thought he had two more years left, he wasn’t planning on retiring.”

- Christopher Chavez