NYPD: Grindr Hook-Up May Have Led to Pro Baller’s Murder

The NYPD found a basketball star once drafted by the New York Knicks dead in his Lexus SUV in Brooklyn.

Michael Wright’s roommates reported him missing on Sunday and the police found his lifeless body on Tuesday in his car and covered by garbage bags. The six-foot-eight man sported a head wound that gave cops a clue that foul play led to his demise.

The police suspect Michael Wright met his killer via Grindr.

“We don’t know anything about his personal life,” Wright’s cousin told the New York Daily News. “All we know is that he did damage overseas. When he played ball, he destroyed everyone in front of him.”

The homosexual dating app brings users together for easy, no-strings attached, anonymous sex. It also brought together perpetrator and victim in the rapes and murders of several men, including a 25-year-old Philadelphian beaten to death and left in an alley after rendezvousing with a stranger through the app. A billboard earlier this year relayed the risks to sexual health posed by hook-up apps, showing male silhouettes with the words “Grindr” and “Gonorrhea” atop them.

Wright never played for the Knicks or any other NBA team. But as his cousin noted, he enjoyed success overseas, playing in Poland, Turkey, Israel, Spain, Germany, France, and Korea. The 35-year-old most recently played for Cholet Basket, where he averaged about two points and two rebounds over three games before receiving his walking papers in February from the French team.

He starred at the University of Arizona when they lost to Duke in the NCAA Tournament Finals in 2001 and played alongside Kevin Garnett in high school. Wright played pro ball continuously since departing the University of Arizona in 2001, taking Turkish citizenship during his time playing in Asia Minor.