Lonnie Wright (January 23, 1945 – March 23, 2012) was 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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played in the same season for the

Denver Rockets Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

before switching to basketball on a full-time basis.

Education

Wright was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and attended South Side High School (since renamed

Malcolm X Shabazz High School Malcolm X Shabazz High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Newark in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, as part of the Newark Public Schools. Founded as South Side High School in 1912, the school was renam ...

), where he earned All-City, All-County, All-State, and All-American honors in both football and basketball. He was inducted into the

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports. State championsh ...

Hall of Fame in 1997.Hall of Fame
,

. Accessed August 26, 2008. Wright attended

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, where he played basketball and set the school's shot put record of 52 feet, 9 inches. He scored 1,246 points in his college basketball career, and was part of the Rams team that made it to the 22-team 1966 NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

team led by

Elvin Hayes Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945), nicknamed "the Big E", is an American former professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and ...

and Don Chaney.

Professional careers

Wright was drafted in the sixth round of the 1966 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks (now the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

), but did not sign with the team. Despite the fact Wright never played football in college, the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

of the NFL also showed interest. He signed with the

of the

on April 16, 1966, playing for the team in 1966 and 1967. As a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

, he intercepted one pass in the 1966 season and four more the following year. He caught a single pass in his career, losing two yards on the reception. Switching sports, Wright signed with the

(predecessor to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

) on January 5, 1968, starting play with the Rockets just weeks after the end of the football season.Moss, Irv
"Catching Up With: Lonnie Wright - Playing for two teams, one town"
''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'', May 21, 2007. Accessed August 26, 2008. A 6-foot 2 inch (1.88 m), 205 pound (93 kg)

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

, he played for five seasons in the

, four seasons with the Rockets (1967–1971) and a single season with

The Floridians ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

(1971–1972).Lonnie Wright
, BasketballReference.com. Accessed August 26, 2008. He scored 3,590 points and averaged 10.7 points per game over his career, with the 1968–69 season marking his career bests, scoring 1,130 points and 16.4 points per game, second on the team in both statistics behind Larry Jones. While

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League ...

and

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (May 20, 1927 – March 11, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Viki ...

had done the basketball-football double in the 1940s, only Ron Widby had done it since, through 1999. Wright was inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and into the Colorado State University Sports Hall of Fame the following year.

Personal

Wright served as the Director of Students at the

New Jersey Medical School New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) is the medical school of Rutgers University, a public university in Newark, New Jersey. It has been part of the Rutgers Health since the 2013 dissolution of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ...

of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. Wright's wife Johanna was head coach of the girls' basketball team at

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

Maplewood, New Jersey Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

until 2014. A resident of

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

, Wright died at the age of 67 at his home there on March 23, 2012, due to

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

.Moss, Irv
"Lonnie Wright, who played for both the Broncos and Nuggets, dies at the age of 67"
''

'', March 24, 2012. Accessed March 25, 2012. "One word was standard Friday for everyone who talked about Lonnie Wright, who died earlier in the day at his home in South Orange, N.J., from congestive heart failure at age 67."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Lonnie 1945 births 2012 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American football safeties American men's basketball players Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Colorado State Rams football players Colorado State Rams men's basketball players Denver Broncos (AFL) players Denver Rockets players Malcolm X Shabazz High School alumni Miami Floridians players Players of American football from Newark, New Jersey Sportspeople from South Orange, New Jersey Point guards San Diego Conquistadors expansion draft picks Shooting guards St. Louis Hawks draft picks