Chris Wright (born November 4, 1989) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for

Basket Zaragoza Basket Zaragoza 2002 S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Basket Zaragoza and as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Zaragoza, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the FIBA Europe Cup. ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. When he played for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

in 2013, he became the first known player in

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

history to have been diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

High school career

Wright played for

St. John's College High School St. John's College High School (SJC, SJCHS, or St. John's) is a Catholic high school in Washington, D.C. Established in 1851, it is the third oldest Christian Brothers school in the United States, and was one of the oldest Army JROTC schools u ...

and he was the first three-time ''

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'' All-Met selection since

Adrian Dantley Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dantley is a six-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection an ...

starred at

DeMatha Catholic High School DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for boys located in Hyattsville, Maryland, United States. Named after John of Matha, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a member of the Washin ...

from 1971 to 1973. He scored 2,580 career points for St. John's, leaving as the all-time leader in points. Wright averaged 30.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 2006–07. He topped the 30-point mark 19 times and led the Cadets (24–9) to the

Washington Catholic Athletic Conference The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) is a major high school athletic league for boys, girls, and co-ed Catholic high schools of the Archdiocese of Washington & Diocese of Arlington located in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Th ...

title game where St. John's fell to Dematha. Wright was a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

, won the three-point shooting contest at the McDonald's All-American Classic, played in the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced. Th ...

in New York, was named the Gatorade Washington, D.C. Player of the Year as a senior, and he averaged over 22 points in both his sophomore and junior seasons. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Wright was listed as the No. 8 point guard and the No. 55 player in the nation in 2007.

College career

Injuries

On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Wright had broken his ankle during a pick up game, and that he would miss the "early part of the season". Despite this, he was able to play the first eleven games of the 2007–08 season, where he averaged 6.2 points a game. Wright reinjured his ankle in December 2007, and missed the next eighteen games. On March 13, 2008, Wright made his first appearance since the injury, playing in the second round of the Big East tournament against

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, scoring six points. On February 23, 2011, Chris Wright injured the third metacarpal bone in his left (non-shooting) hand and had surgery the following morning, forcing him to miss the final three regular season games of his senior career but leaving him eligible to return for the NCAA tournament.

Statistics

In his senior season, Chris Wright was among the top 20 Big East players in points per game, free throw percentage, 3-point percentage, steals per game, assists per turnover, and assists per game. Wright's single-game career highs at Georgetown University are 34 points (12/23/09, v. Harvard), 12 assists (12/12/10, v. Appalachian St & 11/18 v. Coastal Carolina), and 7 rebounds (12/20/08, v. Mt. St. Mary's).

Professional career

In August 2011, Wright signed with

Olin Edirne Olin may refer to: People Organizations * OLIN, American landscape architecture firm * Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis * Olin College, an undergraduate engineering college in Massachusetts * Olin Corporation, a chemical ...

of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

. On October 1, 2012, Wright signed a non-guaranteed contract with the

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. He did not make the final roster. As an affiliate player, Wright joined the

Iowa Energy Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

for 2012–13. On February 14, 2013, Wright was named to the Prospects All-Star roster for the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game as a replacement for

Terrence Jones Terrence Alexander Jones (born January 9, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Piratas de Quebradillas of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. High sc ...

. On March 13, 2013, Wright signed a 10-day contract with the

. Wright became the first known NBA player with

. He played three games for Dallas before his contract expired. He then returned to the Iowa Energy. In April 2013, he signed with the

Capitanes de Arecibo The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) ...

in Puerto Rico. On September 29, 2013, he signed a one-year deal with

ASVEL Basket ASVEL Basket, currently known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team located in the commune of Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, France. The club, which is the basketball section of the ASVEL multi-sports ...

. On October 31, 2014, Wright was reacquired by the Iowa Energy. However, he was later waived by the Energy on November 14, 2014. Five days later, he was acquired by the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

. On December 29, 2014, he was waived by the Jam after appearing in 14 games. On January 7, 2015, he signed with

Victoria Libertas Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

of Italy for the rest of the

2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A The 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A was the 93rd season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy. The regular season started on 12 October 2014 and finished on 10 May 2015, after all teams had played 30 games e ...

season. On August 11, 2015, Wright signed with

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

of Israel for the 2015–16 season. On February 1, 2016, he left Holon and signed with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

of Italy for the rest of the

2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A The 2015–16 Lega Basket Serie A, known for sponsorship reasons as the Serie A BEKO, was the 94th season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy. The regular season started on 4 October 2015 and finished o ...

season. On August 29, 2016, Wright inked a deal with

Guaros de Lara The Guaros de Lara is a Venezuelan professional basketball club, that is based in Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela. Guaros de Lara BBC has existed as a club in various different forms since 1983. It has existed in its current form since 2003. The c ...

of the Venezuelan

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

, but two days later, on September 1, 2016, he signed with

Auxilium CUS Torino Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino was an Italian professional basketball club in Turin, Piedmont. It competed in the first division of Italian basketball, the Lega Basket Serie A for the last time in the 2018–19 season. The club won one trophy, th ...

of Italy for the 2016–17 Lega Basket Serie A season. On November 5, 2017, Wright signed with

Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also simply known as Reggiana or Reggio Emilia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Unahotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as ...

for the rest of the 2017–18 Lega Basket Serie A season. On July 5, 2018, Wright signed a deal with

Pallacanestro Trieste Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trieste. They played in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) for five seasons (2018–19 LBA season, 2018–19 to 2022–23 LBA season, 2022–23 season); after winning playof ...

. On August 23, 2019, he has signed with

Twarde Pierniki Toruń Twarde Pierniki Toruń is a Polish professional basketball team based in Toruń. The team currently plays in the Polish Basketball League (PLK). The club has won Polish Cup and Polish Supercup titles in 2018. Currently the team plays under the name ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. Wright averaged 18.6 points, 6.7 assist and 2 steals per game. On July 30, 2020, Wright signed with Afyon Belediye of the Turkish

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

. On July 13, 2021, Wright signed with the newly promoted

Derthona Basket Derthona Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Bertram Derthona Tortona, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Tortona, in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont. The team has achieved the promotion to the Lega Basket Serie ...

of the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

The Basketball Tournament (TBT)

In the summer of 2017, Wright, for the third year, competed in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-invitation, single-elimination tournament, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States, with the stakes being a cash prize (the most recent tournament in The Basketball Tournam ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

for the City of Gods. In their first-round matchup, Wright scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in the City of Gods' 88–86 loss to Gael Nation, a team composed of

Iona College Iona University () is a private Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York, United States. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bro ...

basketball alum. Wright also played for the City of Gods in 2016. That summer, he averaged 15.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game to help the City of Gods advance to the semifinals where they were defeated by eventual champions

Overseas Elite Overseas Elite was an American basketball team that participated in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team won the tournament four consecutive times: 2015 (prize money $1 million), 201 ...

. In 2015, Wright played for DMV's Finest and averaged 13.7 points, 6.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds over the course of three games.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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References

External links

*
LBA profile

Scout.com profileThe unstoppable drive of Chris Wright, the first NBA player with MS
ref> {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Chris 1989 births Living people Afyon Belediye S.K. players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players ASVEL Basket players Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino players Bakersfield Jam players Basket Zaragoza players Capitanes de Arecibo players Dallas Mavericks players Derthona Basket players Eskişehir Basket players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Hapoel Holon B.C. players Iowa Energy players Lega Basket Serie A players McDonald's High School All-Americans Pallacanestro Reggiana players Pallacanestro Trieste players Pallacanestro Varese players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Basketball players from Bowie, Maryland St. John's College High School alumni Twarde Pierniki Toruń players Undrafted NBA players Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players