Michael Wright

Michael Wright (January 7, 1980 - November 10, 2015) was an American-Turkish professional basketball player who last played for Cholet Basket of the LNB Pro A. He also holds a Turkish citizenship. His Turkish name is Ali Karadeniz.

Wright played his high school basketball at Farragut Academy, where, as a freshman, he was part of one of the best teams in the country, which boasted future professionals Willie Farley and Ronnie Fields, as well as Boston Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett. At 2.01 m (6 ft 7 ¼ in), Wright played center after Garnett's departure, and moved to power forward in college.

At the University of Arizona, Wright started for the Wildcats in the 2001 NCAA Division I championship against the Duke Blue Devils. However, undersized for that position at the pro level, and too slow to be a small forward, he dropped to the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft where he was drafted by the New York Knicks.

After not joining the Knicks or any other NBA team post-draft, Wright moved overseas and switched teams almost every season. He started with Polish league champions Śląsk Wrocław, that also participated in the Euroleague, moving to Spain's CB Granada the following year.

After the team was relegated to the LEB (Spain's second division), Wright moved to Israel and signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv, and a year later with ALBA Berlin.

In 2005, He moved to Beşiktaş Cola Turka of the Turkish Basketball League. He started the 2006-07 season in South Korea with Jeonju KCC Egis, in October signed with French and Euroleague's EB Pau Orthez.

In May of 2007, he moved back to Turkey and signed for Türk Telekom B.K.. In September 2009 he has signed a contract with Turów Zgorzelec from Poland for 2009-10 season.

In July of 2011, he returned to Türk Telekom B.K. for one season with an option for a second one.

In the summer of 2012, he signed a contract with Mersin BB.

On February 3, 2015, he signed with Cholet Basket of the French LNB Pro A. After averaging 1.7 points and 2 rebounds in 3 contests, Wright and Cholet parted ways.

Michael Wright was found dead Tuesday night Nov. 10, 2015.  He was found dead, in his SUV in Brooklyn, N. Y., the apparent victim of foul play.