by Paul Gerald
fter two years in the NBA, this is where Lorenzen Wright stands:
He’s recognized around the league for his athletic ability, effort,
and rebounding skills, but he’s stuck for one more year playing
for one of the worst teams around.
Wright, the forward/center from Memphis, is a Los Angeles Clipper, which means he’s working hard and rebounding like a fiend for a team that won 17 of 82 games, “led” the league in points allowed, and then fired one of the most successful coaches in league history, Bill Fitch.
“It’s never fun when you’re not winning,” Wright says diplomatically, “but you’re always gonna have your ups and your downs. Right now we’re young. We’re the third-youngest team in the league, so we’ve got a lot of stuff to learn.”
Wright has been learning at a rapid clip, especially because for much of his two years in L.A., the team has had no true center and Wright has had to play that position. Power forward is Wright’s natural NBA position because it takes better advantage of his quickness and attack-the-basket mentality. Besides, in the world of NBA centers, even his 6-11, 240-pound frame could easily get bent.
“He’s better at the forward spot,” Fitch says. “His offense has
gotten better this year, and his defensive skills, both at center
and at forward, have gotten better. There’s nothing wrong with
his play at center, but he just gives up so much size against
big guys that he’s playing too many minutes under the pressure
of fouls and so forth.”
PHOTO BY LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
Lorenzen Wright
As for Wright’s work ethic, which really does stand out from most of the players in the league, Fitch says, “I love him. If I had five players like him I’d just sit back and count my money.”
This year the Clippers traded for Ike Austin, a 6-10, 270-pound, tough natural center, and assuming they can re-sign Austin for next year, Wright looks to start next year right where he wants to be: next to a true center.
“I’m trying to adjust, because before Ike came I was playing all center, and now I’m playing there and the power forward,” Wright said during the season. “So I’m in a transition right now. Once I get used to everything, it’ll all come together for me.”
Wright has come together nicely. Fitch says that when Wright came on board after just two years at the University of Memphis, he “had no idea what the NBA game was all about.” But one of the benefits of joining a lame team is that you get to play more, and Wright got into 77 games, making 51 starts, and averaged 7.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last year, ranking second on the team in rebounding. His field-goal percentage of .481 was second-best among Clipper regulars.
This year he notched those numbers up to 8.8 rebounds and 9.0 points per game, but he played in eight fewer games because of a couple of injuries. He shot .445 from the field but only .659 from the free-throw line. But as Fitch said, “Right before he got hurt, he was really in a zone with the rebounds. He’s been a force.”
As always, Wright can rebound. Twice this year, Wright got 22 boards in a game. He had as many as 12 offensive and 16 defensive boards in separate games. He is still after the Clippers’ single-game rebounding record, which he can quote without hesitation: “Thirty two,” he says, though he can’t come up with the name of the record-setting Clipper, Swen Nater.
Wright’s biggest night in the NBA was December 26th against the Lakers, when he had 32 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Those were both career highs, as were his 20 shots that night. The Clippers, naturally, lost, 118-114.
When the Clippers upset the Utah Jazz on February 3rd, Wright had 17 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, five assists, and three blocked shots. His line in a 94-79 win over Golden State January 2nd was 23 points (on 11 of 14 shots), 15 rebounds, three steals, and three blocked shots.
Wright says he’ll spend his off-season “working out as much as possible. One of my goals is always to improve every summer and try to bring something different back to the game. I’ll do individual workouts, go to big-man camps, the L.A. summer league, everything. I’ll probably get to Memphis once or twice.”
Details on the life of an NBA player: This graduate of Booker T. Washington High now owns a 3,000-square-foot home in the hills above Los Angeles. “It’s not a palace or anything,” he says, “but it’s nice, and it’s all I need.”
The Clippers need folks like Lorenzen Wright if they’re ever going to get out of the NBA basement, but after next season Wright will be a free agent, able to sign with any team. If he goes, he could be a valuable addition to a contending team and make even more money than he is now. There aren’t that many athletic young bodies out there with a rebounding- and defensive-oriented mindset.
If Wright stays, however, he’ll probably keep thriving in obscurity.
But he will have that house on the hill. 