There’s been all kinds of stories about athletes making it big time and then squandering their opportunity. Whether it’s been drugs, bad investments, or pure stupidity, athletes that are supposedly living the life have ended up in turmoil. The story of Luther Wright is one of the worst that I’ve heard.

After being drafted by the Utah Jazz in 1993 it was all downhill for Luther Wright. His first season was bad, I mean really bad.. He averaged 1.3 points and .7 rebounds, and in January 1994 Luther experienced his first manic episode. He entered a mental institution after the season and never suited up for the Jazz again. Wright moved back to his home state of New Jersey where he got caught up in drugs and alcohol. The absolute low point came after Luther had two toes amputated at the hospital while high and crack, and instead of staying off of his feet, he hobbled back to a crackhouse on crutches.

Wright, a man that admits his size had more to do with him playing basketball than his desire, has started to pull himself together. He’s not working but he is engaged and recently learned that 2 of the children he was paying child support for aren’t his.

It was his size, 6’8″ in the 8th grade, that got him into Seton Hall and eventually into the NBA. All too often we deem athletes larger than life, immune to weaknesses, and time after time we are proven wrong. I’m hoping Luther Wright is big and strong enough to pull through this.

At rock bottom, Luther Wright finds salvation. Courtesy of The Desert News via The Newark Star Ledger

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Brown of the Newark Star Ledger

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