News Archive

Law enforcement officials have found the body of missing Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright in a wooded area at Hacks Cross and Winchester in southeast Memphis.

A law enforcement source confirmed the body was that of Wright, 34, who has been missing since July 19, though the Memphis Police Department won’t officially comment. Police are referring to their ongoing investigation as a “death investigation.”

Curtis Wright, Lorenzen Wright’s uncle told The Associated Press that police called the player’s father, Herb Wright, a couple of hours ago.

According to sources, a 9-1-1 call was made from Wright’s cell phone on July 19. A Germantown dispatcher could hear the loud blasts of several gunshots. The cellphone call ended at that point.

The dispatcher called back, but no one answered.

The body was found by someone who called police today.

At the Collierville home of Wright’s ex-wife, Sherra Robinson Wright, white bed sheets covered the windows.

A woman who arrived just as the family heard the news, said, “I’m just here to see my sister.” She left about 10 minutes later, with two children, a girl and a boy wearing a Lorenzen Wright Grizzlies jersey.

About 4:45 p.m., eight or nine adults and children left the house in a caravan of cars, including two identical black Porsche SUVs and a green sedan.

A large crowd of onlookers had gathered by late afternoon along Hacks Cross. There were adults with small children, even their pets. Many did not personally know the former basketball star but milled around the scene anyway. Cars lined the street. Among those gathered were former University of Memphis basketball stars Penny Hardaway and Elliot Perry, as well as family members and friends.

Wright was thought to be carrying some amount of cash when he was last seen leaving his ex-wife’s Collierville home, fueling concerns he may be the victim of foul play, according to a Collierville police report released today.

He recently flew from Atlanta to Memphis to visit friends and his six children, friends said. He was scheduled to drive back to the Atlanta area July 19, with his six children and a friend. He was last seen at about 2 a.m. July 19, leaving his ex-wife’s Whisperwood Drive home. His former wife told police she doesn’t know who he left with or what type of car they were in, according to the missing person’s report.

Wright played 13 years in the NBA, including five with the Memphis Grizzlies, after playing two seasons at the University of Memphis.

Wright kept up an active Twitter feed that he often updated several times daily. It featured a picture of him playing in the old Grizzlies uniform, wearing No. 42 and guarding Shaquille O’Neal. It includes observations about his kids (playing Monopoly with them, teaching them to swim), including a picture from July 14, just days before his disappearance, featuring a smiling Wright and six kids wearing Japanese chef hats at a hibachi restaurant.

The feed went suddenly dormant on Sunday, July 19, with a timestamp of 12:22:41 p.m., with a response to someone with a handle of THEonlyMARY_P.

It is just one word: “why.” It is the last update from his feed, which had 125 followers and 375 tweets.

Wright’s standing comment for the page: “Entering a new part of my life with my eyes wide open!”

Former University of Memphis standout Chris Douglas-Roberts posted on his Twitter account: “RIP Memphis Tiger alum Lorenzen Wright.” Douglas-Roberts said he didn’t know what had happened to Wright or want to know.

“Lorenzen never backed down from any challenge given him, whether it was guarding Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) or anyone else,” Grizzlies’ owner Michael Heisley said by phone from London this afternoon shortly after learning of Wright’s death. “He was a team player, a great locker room guy. There was never an instance that I talked to him when he wasn’t a positive, outstanding guy. “I am heartbroken today. I’m sure there’s a lot of people in Memphis who are very, very sad. He was a good man who had his share of tough times, and I’ve got to believe he’s in a better place.” Memphis Commercial Appeal

Hosted by both Drama and Whoo Kid, here is the latest installment of Gotti’s Cocaine Muzik series. Sniff away and download here. Tracklist after the jump.

01. Yo Gotti – Chapter 1 Intro
02. Yo Gotti – Fishcale Dreams
03. Yo Gotti – Where They Do That At
04. Yo Gotti – Mirror
05. Yo Gotti – Bang Bang (Feat. Gucci Mane & Zedzilla)
06. Yo Gotti – BMF Memphis
07. Yo Gotti – Chapter 2
08. Yo Gotti – Thin Line
09. Yo Gotti – Right Now
10. Yo Gotti – White World
11. Yo Gotti – Make It Work
12. Yo Gotti – Chapter 3
13. Yo Gotti – Millionaire
14. Yo Gotti – Cocaine Muzik (Feat. Young Jeezy, Rick Ross & The Clipse)
15. Yo Gotti – I Go Ham (Feat. All-Star & Gucci Mane)

New York rapper Shyne has lived up to his word by releasing a new record called “Belize” which takes subliminal jabs at 50 Cent and Rick Ross.

Within the track, Shyne reflects on his life in Belize while also calling out Ross’ former employer as a corrections officer and taunting 50 Cent’s rap alias.

“I be smoking trees in Belize when they find me,” Shyne raps, “Dude, dude, did everything he said, I’m about a dollar what the f*ck is 50 Cents…They want to know what I’m up to, sh*t, I’m living like I’m accustomed — in and out of customs, what the f*ck you thought fool, I’m a hustler, no, no, no, not the CO, bro, bro, it’s the C-E-O…”

He writes a thank you note to his fans and Facebook via his blog:

To all my friends at Facebook,

Many times in life I’ve had to deal with moments of doubt. And as it’s been a minute since I’ve performed any fresh material in front of an audience, this could’ve been one of those moments… but it wasn’t. Your energy was a gift so electric, so genuine, that it really helped me give my best. The energy was so inspiring I had to keep going!

I just hope you got as much from me as I got from you…which was everything!

Love to all my fans, especially at Facebook.

Kanye West

The album is scheduled for release in September and will feature verses from Rick Ross and T.I. as well as production from DJ Premier and Q Tip.

Just a couple of months ago, everyone was looking for Kanye West and now he’s pretty much everywhere. He stopped by Facebook headquarters yesterday to perform new songs off his upcoming album.

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z upset that newly minted Miami Heat player LeBron James didn’t consult him

“Jay never expected LeBron to sign with the Nets. He knew that no 25-year-old kid with James’ profile was going to spend years in Newark,” the source tells Gatecrasher. “But he’s pissed, or at least disappointed, that LeBron didn’t consult with him.”

Still, our source says, “I don’t think it’s going to affect their friendship.”

According to insider, James’ silent treatment made Jay-Z look bad with Nets’ management. While LeBron was making his decision, “he didn’t even take calls. It made look like he couldn’t deliver to the Nets management. If Jay-Z could have landed a star player, “he could have been seen as a legitimate asset to the team,” the source said. “Now they see him as just dead weight.”

Perhaps, but our source points out that given Jay-Z’s minuscule $1 million investment in the Nets, the responsibility to put together a killer team doesn’t really lie with him.

“It’s not Jay’s team,” says the source. That dubious honor goes to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who paid $200 million for an 80% stake in the Nets.

Another NBA insider says Jay-Z’s real source of dissatisfaction should be Prokhorov. “The Nets have no basketball team,” the source says, saying that Prokhorov “overpromoted and overmarketed” the team, but wasn’t able to deliver a player with genuine box-office appeal.

Jay-Z’s spokeswoman did not respond to our request for comment by deadline, and a spokesman for James declined to comment.

THE NUMBERS ARE IN…RICK ROSS IS NO. 1
Here’s the numbers!

Rick Ross sold – 188,816

Eminem sold – 187,958

A lawyer for DMX has confirmed that the rapper surrendered to authorities in Los Angeles today (July 26th) to begin serving a three month prison sentence.

DMX appeared in a Los Angeles court, where he was sentenced to the three months, for violating the terms of his 2002 probation for a reckless driving charge.

“Mr. Simmons is here today to fully cooperate with respect to any matters of the Court’s concern,” DMX’s lawyer Aja M. Southern told HipHopNews. “This is one of many steps towards rebuilding his image and rapport with the community and his loyal fans.”

The jail sentence comes on the heels of DMX’s release from prison earlier this month, after he served four months in an Arizona jail.

In that incident, the rapper violated his probation when he tested positive for cocaine and was found guilty of other infractions, which violated his probation in another case.

Alexis Neiers, the ‘Pretty Wild’ reality starlet who just served a month for her involvement in the Bling Ring, shared a cell block with Lindsay Lohan for the last three days of her sentence. Now she shares her story with E!, the network that made her a star.

Alexis did not interact with Lindsay since both were in protective custody, but she could hear her crying through the wall.

“Crying. She was crying. I could hear her,” Alexis said. “She was crying. She was talking to deputies and, you know, just trying to–I couldn’t really like make it out, but from what I saw the first day, I mean, she was lying in there and just trying to like calm down.”

One reason for Lindsay not to cry: the special treatment her hair received.

“I mean, she got to keep her extensions in and everything, which most people don’t, and the girls were like, ‘Ah, they had to take my weave out and cut it all out and,’ you know, stuff like that,” Alexis said.

Family members are searching for former Memphis Tiger and NBA Grizzlies player Lorenzen Wright. FOX13′s Marcus Hunter spoke with Wright’s mother, Debra about the last time he was seen by family members.

Debra said his last known where abouts was at his ex-wife’s house in Collierville, Tenn. He was last seen wearing white gym shorts and gym shoes.

She said the family is concerned because he is not answering a cell phone to his daughter. Family members said he always returns her phone calls.

Mark Heuberger with the town of Collierville has confirmed Wright’s family filed a missing person report on Lorenzen Thursday.

FOX 13 can also confirm that Wright was last seen in Memphis on Monday.

Heuberger says the family hasn’t heard from him since Sunday.

Heuberger said the 34-year-old Wright could be traveling, but, in his words, “we don’t know.”

Wright played center for five NBA teams, including the Grizzlies, after being the No. 7 overall selection by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1996.

A Memphis native, Wright averaged 7.9 points per game over 13 NBA seasons.

Jermaine Dupri may have fallen to a low, as he threatens to kill Blogger Sandra Rose. This is what she said happen:

“I’ve got people ready to kill you!”

Jermaine Dupri

An enraged Jermaine Dupri launched into a profanity-filled tirade during a late-night phone call last night that left the hair standing up on the back of my neck.

A friend called me around 11 pm to say he had Dupri on the line and was it alright if he spoke with me. I agreed to listen to what he had to say. Dupri began by ranting and raving about bloggers in general, and about me specifically.

JD, as he likes to be called, was reacting angrily to a post I wrote yesterday titled “How the Mighty Have Fallen: Jermaine Dupri Rebounds.”

While not denying that anything I wrote was false, he angrily vented about me “always” going in on him and his artists, including Dondria and Bow Wow.

He basically let me know that his goons were coming for me — with his blessing.

“I got people ready to kill you right now!,” he screamed. “I’m letting you know it’s serious in the streets right now,” said JD in a 3-way call from France where he had just finished partying.

He said repeatedly, “I run Atlanta! I got ni**as calling me saying they don’t know what you look like, but all I gotta do is point you out and they will FUCK YOU UP!!!!”

I was extremely offended by all his yelling and cursing and I reminded JD that I was a grown ass woman. “I’m grown too!,” he responded. “I got ni**as that will fuck you up on sight!”

He wasn’t at all subtle with any of his threats — even though he insisted he wasn’t threatening me. “I know you’re recording this,” he yelled, “and I’m recording it too!” He made death threats unapologetically: “You already dead!,” he screamed.

After taking as much of the verbal abuse as I was willing to tolerate, I hung up on him and called the police.

This morning I will be speaking to my attorney.

No blogger should tolerate death threats from a celebrity. Whether the threats are veiled or direct, they are still threats against your life. And that it is against the law.