Four years ago around this time
Chris "Flight" Wright was making a splash onto the college scene by helping the
Dayton Flyers get to the highest national ranking (13) they had in decades, maybe ever. He averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds and a block as a Faboulous Frosh, and with his high flying dunks, aggressive blocks, and high energy demeanor, he look like a
SURE FIRE future 1st-rounder and guy who could lead the Flyers to a possible deep run into the NCAA tournament. However, in a twist of cruel fate, he hurt his leg after one of the Flyers best starts in team history
(14-1) and the team never recovered.
Wright would continue to do what he did best in his next three years, which is rebound, fly high, bring energy and
dominate on defense. Standing at a legit 6'8 with
crazy hops and a
NBA body, the knock was that he needed to develop a consistent 15-20 ft. jump shot, and work on his ball handling so that he could make himself more valuable to the NBA as a small forward along as a undersized power forward.
However it didn't look like he developed the consistent perimeter "J" that would take him from a prospect to a 1st rounder. And so as the
experts, the
so-called experts,
ballers,
non-ballers who have opinions, and the
rest of the world spoke on Wrights' inability to drop 3's consistently, it seemed that Flight Wright would be on a flight
forreal - to play
overseas.
But then something insane happened. The owners decided to play hardball; therefore, a NBA lockout created.
Now at first everyone had
questions such as: Will there be a NBA this year? Should he just do the smart thing and go overseas off jump? Why wait for a chance to get into a training camp, only to be sent to the D-League or be cut? What is the chances of him even getting to the NBA after a strike? Slim to none?
Looks
extremely good I would say.
 |
| "Flight Wright" in motion |
A few days before the draft Wright had admitted that he had not put the time in to make himself a better shooter. Could it had been that former Dayton coach
Brian Gregory didn't
utilize Wright properly or help him develop his skills? Could it had been that Wright thought he would get to the NBA anyway
despite the shortcomings as a shooter? Whatever the case was, he was honest with himself and the media. So he went into the gym. And put shots up. Hundreds and thousands of shots. And continued to work. And with the supreme dissapointment embedded in his head of not getting drafted to the NBA - and then having to watch a friend and localballer (
Norris Cole) get drafted - in the 1st round no less - had to be as
humbling a moment as Wright has ever had.
Now most players would have accepted his fate of being a good college player who couldn't really shoot. Not Chris. He remained positive, continued to work on his negatives and was rewarded. He was the
3rd player drafted in the NBDL (behind
Jamaal Tinsley & Alando Tucker, both NBA vets) by the Warriors organization. And once the NBA owners decided that they were ready to play ball, they had waited
so long that it put most GM's and Coaches in a frenzy. Normally, Wright would have been on a summer league team,
trying to make the team, which would have been small chance (at best). But
because of the strike, the league schedule was
pushed back, money was taken from the players, a
soft cap was revealed and other little tidbits had been changed, making room at the end of the bench for players who are high energy,a good skill set, excelled in college, and have room for development. Like Chris Wright. Wright was signed this past week to the
Golden State Warriors squad and is in training camp trying to secure a spot in the NBA. The Warriors currently have only 11 players signed, so he has
EVERY opportunity to prove himself worthy - which I have no doubt he will.
Once I heard this news, I was
extremely happy. He's a humble great young guy. He deserved it. Never been in trouble or doing the wrong things. Im cool with the Wright family all the way back to high school. But hopefully Chris Wright has learned a valuable lesson. No matter how much talent you have, you must
work on your weaknesses to be able to
take that rainbow all the way to the pot of gold. And oh yeah, it doesn't hurt when the owners hold out so you can sneak into training camp. To get to the NBA, no matter how much skill you have, it still takes a
little luck somewhere along the way. Its
how prepared you are that will decide how big that pot is when you get that chance.
Remember,
Preparation + hard work + opportunity = Success.
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