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The rise and fall and return of Luther Wright, who has gone from a first-round NBA draft pick to homeless crack addict to basketball coach and peer counselor, will add another chapter next month at All-Star Weekend in Dallas.He will become a star again.
Wright was selected to be part of the NBA Legends Band that will perform at various functions throughout All-Star Weekend, doing a combination of R&B, Jazz and Gospel music.
The band, comprised of former NBA players now spread across the country, rehearsed together for the first time Sunday when they gathered in Las Vegas.
"It was awesome,'' Wright said after returning home to New Jersey on Monday.
The band will include Thurl Bailey (vocals), Calvin Natt (bass guitar), Wright (guitar and vocals), Anthony Avent (vocals), Terry Cummings (keyboard) and Bob Elliott (drums).
"At this point, I can't tell if it will sound like something from America's Got Talent or The Gong Show,'' Elliott said before the first rehearsal. "But I know it's going to be fun.''
This is the first time the NBA Retired Players Association has put together a group of NBA musical talent for All-Star Weekend. The idea stemmed from Charles Smith, current executive director of the NBRPA and former player who is hoping to use the band to expand the organization's impact in communities around the country.
Musical director for the band is Nat Adderly, Jr., former musical director for Luther Vandross.
Many of the players in the band had lengthy NBA careers. Bailey and Natt each played 13 seasons. Cummings played 19 seasons. Wright, unfortunately, burned out almost immediately when he left Seton Hall University and the Utah Jazz made him the 18th pick of the 1993 Draft.
Wright played only 15 games for the Jazz that rookie season before he was released, starting a downward spiral that left him homeless for several years before regaining control of his life.
Today he is a part-time assistant basketball coach at Globe Institute of Technology in New York City, active in his church ministry, and re-enrolled at Seton Hall, where he hopes to complete his degree.
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