Ex-Knicks Player Possibly Killed After Grindr Hookup, Says NYPD

Officials from the New York Police Department are currently investigating the death of Michael Wright, a former player for the New York Knicks, saying he was possibly was killed by someone he met on the gay dating app Grindr, the New York Daily News reports.

Wright, 35, was found dead Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, in the back of his Lexus SUV. According to a police source, the NYDN reports Wright had a head wound and that his body was covered in black garbage bags.

Police are investigating the athlete's death as a homicide, a police source told the newspaper.

Wright, who was reported missing by his roommates on Sunday, was a Knicks draft pick in 2001 when he was a forward for the University of Arizona's basketball team the Arizona Wildcats. Wright never made it onto the Knicks' roster, however, and he reportedly joined the basketball circuit in Europe, playing in Poland, Turkey and France.

The NYDN reports Wright's family is shocked by his death.

"We are in disbelief," Wright's cousin Randolph Berry, told the NYDN. "They're telling us it's foul play. His mom is on her way to New York now."

Authorities are currently investigating the possibility that he was killed after meeting someone on Grindr, the police source said. Wright's cousin said he didn't know the basketball player was gay, however.

"We don't know anything about his personal life," Berry told the NYDN. "All we know is that he did damage overseas. When he played ball, he destroyed everyone in front of him."