Gerry Wright

Gerry Sellars Wright (born December 27, 1963 in Austin (Texas) ) is a retired American basketball player .

Life

Wright's father was a soldier in the US Air Force and the family moved from Texas to California in 1970 .

Wright played American football and a neck injury made him abstain from the sport. He followed his father and became a basketball player. Until 1982, the eight-foot indoor player was a member of the basketball team at San Gorgonio High School in San Bernardino . In reference to the musician Sir Mix-a-Lot and Wright's penchant for powerful dunking , a teammate gave him the nickname "Sir Jam A Lot". After finishing school, he played for a year at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles . From 1984 to 1987 Wright then played at the University of Iowa and came in 89 missions to averages of 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per encounter.

In the draft proceedings of the NBA in 1987, the Detroit Pistons secured  the services on the inside player (fifth selection round, 111th place overall). However, Wright never played in the NBA. He put his basketball career on hold and began training with the US military to become a fighter pilot . Because of the conversion to a new type of aircraft, in which he did not fit due to his body size, he did not achieve this goal. During his military service, Wright was also the assistant coach of the Navy College basketball team for a year and trained soldiers in hand-to-hand combat  .

After retiring from the Navy, Wright took part in a trial training session with the NBA team Atlanta Hawks , but was not given a place in the final roster. He began his career as a professional basketball player in the 1989/90 season with the Pensacola Tornados in the US league CBA . In 1990 he won the CBA's dunking competition. He then played in the 1990/91 season for the Belgian first division club Leuven. He returned to the USA and went to the police, for whom he worked for two years in Los Angeles and, among other things, was an undercover agent in the drug search. He then worked for the Santa Monica Police Department for three years . In the 1994/95 season he coached the girls' basketball team at Santa Monica High School in addition to his police job.

1996 Wright resumed his career as a professional basketball player and strengthened the German Bundesliga club SSV Ulm in the 1996/97 season . In a European Cup game against Skopje in November 1996, the basket system in the Ulm Kuhberghalle did not withstand a dunking wrights. The American tore the ring out of the plexiglass, and after the board had been replaced, the encounter continued. In the game year 1997/98 he first stood by the team New Wave Haaien in Swedish Gothenburg under contract, in December 1997, he moved to Ourense Xacobeo in the Spanish  ACB league . There he came in 20 main round matches in the highest Spanish league to 6.6 points per use.

Wright again accepted an offer from Sweden and played for M7 Borås in autumn 1998, in December 1998 he was signed by the Spanish first division club Recreativos Orenes Murcia , for which he then played 13 games (4.1 points / encounter). During the summer break in 1999 Wright moved to BCJ Hamburg , promoted to the German Bundesliga. For the team, he came to 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per encounter in 28 games this season.

After the end of his playing days, Wright worked as a fitness trainer and bodyguard for the royal family of Saudi Arabia , and during his basketball career he had already worked as a fitness trainer when he was not playing. He wrote two relationship guides that came out in book form. In 2001 Wright, who first studied communication science, then religion and cross-cultural education, returned to his home country and worked in San Bernardino, California as a teacher of history, economics and politics at Arroyo Valley High School. At the school he also worked as a basketball coach, later he trained at San Bernardino Valley College and Barstow Community College, but remained a teacher at Arroyo Valley High School.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sir Jam A Lot is Basketball Royalty. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 27, 2019 ; accessed on August 27, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Gerry Wright College Stats. Accessed August 27, 2019 . 
3. ↑ 1987 NBA Draft. Accessed August 27, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Head Men's Basketball Coach. Accessed August 27, 2019 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Jet pilot and undercover agent - The Hamburg basketball player has a curious vita. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Gerry Wright. February 11, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2019 (American English). 
7. ↑ Que sont-ils devenus? Coupe Korac: avec les Atomics Coupe Saporta: des huitièmes? Euroligue: Allez Struelens Belgian Lions: éviter la culbute TV: le dimanche sur La Deux Le palmarès de la Coupe Le palmarès du championnat. Retrieved August 27, 2019 (French). 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Sports. September 22, 1994. Retrieved August 27, 2019 (American English). 
9. ↑ Eurocup 1996-97 (Game details). Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Südwest Presse Online-Dienst GmbH: Magical Moments. September 26, 2012, accessed August 27, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Basketligan. Retrieved August 27, 2019 . 
12. ↑ ACB.COM. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 1, 2014 ; accessed on August 27, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ Solna chanslöst mot M7 Borås. October 12, 1998, Retrieved August 27, 2019 (Swedish). 
14. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt- Hamburg: Basketball Bundesliga becomes more international - BCJ Tigers start in Lich. September 18, 1999, accessed on August 27, 2019 (German). 
15. ↑ 1538 Gary WRIGHT. Retrieved August 27, 2019 .