James Leroy Wright Sr. (May 6, 1938 – March 21, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He played two seasons in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA) in 1967–68 and 1968–69, winning the

ABA Finals The American Basketball Association (ABA) Finals were the championship series of the ABA, a professional basketball league, in which two teams played each other for the title. The ABA was formed in the fall of 1967, and the first ABA Finals were ...

in 1968 as a member of the

Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylv ...

Early life

Wright grew up in Texas and graduated from Aycock High School ( Rockdale) in 1956. He was a four-sport star, playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball and track and field. He won state championships in both football and basketball during his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year of 1955–56.

College career

Wright played basketball at the

College of the Pacific College of the Pacific is the liberal arts core of the University of the Pacific and offers degrees in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine and performing arts. The College houses 18 academic departments in addition to ...

from 1957–58 to 1959–60 ( freshmen were not allowed to play varsity sports according to NCAA rules when he was in college.) When he became eligible as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1957–58, Wright burst onto the national basketball scene with per game averages of 13.2 points and 17.1 rebounds. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, his points per game average increased in each his junior and senior seasons (14.8 and 15.9, respectively) while his rebounding averages were tops in the nation. Wright's average of 25.1 rebounds per game as a junior and 22.4 per game as a senior are the top two in Pacific history, and he became the first player ever to repeat as the NCAA Division I season rebounding champion. He was named the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year in his final two collegiate seasons as well, first sharing the honors with San Francisco's Mike Farmer followed by

LaRoy Doss LaRoy Samuel Doss (October 6, 1936 – September 7, 2004) was an American college basketball player and businessman. He was the first African-American player in Saint Mary's College of California, Saint Mary's College history and their first to b ...

Saint Mary's St. Mary's, St. Marys, or St. Maries may refer to the following places: Australia * St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** St Marys railway station, Sydney ** North St Marys, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * St Marys, South Austra ...

Professional career

After his collegiate career ended, Wright was selected in the second round (16th overall) of the

1960 NBA draft The 1960 NBA draft was the 14th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 11, 1960, before the 1960–61 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. He never played in the National Basketball Association, however. He spent two seasons playing in the ABA in 1967–68 as a member of the

and then in 1968–69 when the team relocated to become the

Minnesota Pipers Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

. During his rookie season, Pittsburgh won the

, four games to three, over the New Orleans Buccaneers. It was the first ABA championship in the league's history. For the season, Wright played in 17 games and averaged 3.4 points and 6.4 rebounds. He played another 13 games during the playoffs in which he averaged 2.0 points and 5.6 rebounds en route to the championship. When the franchise relocated to Minnesota for the following season, Wright remained on the team but only played in 10 games and averaged a diminished 0.8 points and 3.0 rebounds. Since he was 30 years old at that point, Wright's career came to a close when he was not re-signed after the season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Leroy 1938 births 2020 deaths American Basketball League (1961–62) players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Basketball players from Texas Boston Celtics draft picks Minnesota Pipers players Pacific Tigers men's basketball players People from Rockdale, Texas Pittsburgh Pipers players Power forwards (basketball)

Early life

College career

Professional career

See also

References

External links