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ESPN Daily

A Murder in Memphis: The Lorenzen Wright Story

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s been 11 years since NBA veteran Lorenzen Wright was murdered, his body found in a remote field in Memphis. Wright’s twin sons, Lamar and Shamar were 10 years old when their father was killed. Now, Shamar and Lamar are finally ready to share their perspective on their father, his murder, and the accusations against their mother, Sherra. Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of her husband in 2019, but now, in a rare interview from prison, she proclaims her innocence. Through the loss of their father, the arrest of their mother, Lamar and Shamar Wright have somehow pushed on, and are now playing college basketball together. Our own Lisa Salters recounts this story of loss and basketball, which accompanies an E:60 special A Murder in Memphis available on demand now on the ESPN app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Lisa Salters, you're here today to talk about your E-60 special, and it's called a murder in Memphis.

0:12.3

And it's the story of the murder of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, whose body was found riddled with bullets in a remote field out in Memphis 11 years ago this month.

0:26.1

This is a case that went years without an arrest, and even today is still ongoing.

0:32.8

So what drew you to this case?

0:36.9

Well, Lorenzen Wright was an NBA basketball player.

0:41.3

Lisa Salters is a reporter for E-60.

0:45.3

He wasn't a superstar, but he was a highly regarded big man for all the teams that he played for.

0:51.3

So that alone, the murder of an NBA player, that's compelling

0:56.4

enough. But what really makes this story unique is how the murder of Lorenzen Wright,

1:02.9

how it affected everyone around him, particularly his family. He had seven children. He had twin sons, Lamar and Shamar, who are now

1:15.1

playing basketball themselves in college.

1:18.6

Part of the reason I know I play basketball is because of him. I want to make sure people know that we're continuing his legacy and we're going to continue it the right way.

1:26.6

I forget everything. Literally, I forget everything I was out there playing. We're continuing his legacy, and we're going to continue it the right way.

1:28.5

I forget everything.

1:31.1

Literally, I forget everything else out there playing.

1:33.4

Just I just lose a sense of everything else.

1:34.8

I'm just focused on basketball.

1:40.4

So we are telling the story kind of through their eyes,

1:46.6

how they are trying to live up to the basketball legacy that their father left, and how they have coped with his absence and the gruesome way in which he was taken away from them.

1:53.6

So this is really a story about family. It's a story about twin boys, Lamar and Shamar Wright,

2:00.6

who are still dealing with the after effects of their father's murder all these years later.

2:12.9

It's been over a decade now since the murder of Lorenzen Wright shook the sports world.

...

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