Las Vegas ? Lady Luck smiled on Julian Wright early Friday morning in the New York-New York Hotel and Casino on the south end of the famed Strip.
Not old enough to gamble, the 20-year-old former Kansas University basketball player was nowhere near the casino floor at 12:45 a.m., when a crazed gunman fired 16 bullets from a mezzanine, wounding four people before getting tackled by tourists.
“I was sleeping,” Wright said.
He and his New Orleans Hornets teammates and coaches are bunking at the Big Apple-themed hotel during their three-week stay in Nevada for NBA Summer League action.
“This is Vegas. Crazy things happen here all the time,” Wright added, indicating the incident didn’t rattle him. “I’m fortunate and thankful everybody on our team is OK.”
Healthy and happy two days after signing his first NBA contract, Wright made his pro debut Saturday afternoon before about 1,000 fans in Cox Pavilion – right next to UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center.
The No. 13 pick in the recent NBA Draft hit his first shot as a pro – a layup off a feed from Anthony Roberson – and finished with 10 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes. He made five of nine shots, including four from the outside, and also had one block, three turnovers but no assists in New Orleans’ 110-102 loss to Golden State.
“I’m an NBA player now,” Wright said, “but I don’t feel any different. It doesn’t matter the level. Basketball is basketball. It’s fun to go out and play. It was good to get the rust off. I’d not played in a real game-type situation in three months. It showed in my own mind. I think everybody was a little slow, a little rusty.”
The 6-foot-8 Wright, who played small forward Saturday, might have surprised some Hornets fans who had been forewarned Wright’s erratic jump shot needed some work.
After dropping in his layup, Wright made a strong head fake and, after a dribble, cashed a 15-footer from straight on. He followed it shortly after with a 17-footer from the side. He also iced a turnaround jumper from the corner, as well as a midrange swish.
“His outside shot has always been OK,” Hornets’ coach Byron Scott said, indicating Wright would play some 2-guard as well as forward. “I’ve talked to him about it. He’s very coachable. He’s going to be a big-time asset.
“It’s going to take him some time on the defensive end. He’s not used to guarding guys his size who are as quick or quicker than him. He’s very smart. I think if anything we need to give him the ball more. He’s such a creative player. He can post up, passes well. He needs the ball in his hands.”
Wright took no delight in nailing deep jumpers in his pro debut.
“Some people in college can shoot lights out, but when they get to the NBA, they don’t know how to get their shot off,” Wright said. “I feel I’ve learned so much and am able to shoot the ball. No one is perfect. If I’m known as the first-round draft pick without a jump shot, that’s OK. You’ll never live up to everyone’s expectations. I have high expectations of my own.”
Drawing a paycheck – Wright will receive $1,449,300 his rookie season, followed by $1,558,000 his second season, $1,666,700 his third year and $2,381,714 his fourth campaign – doesn’t figure to change the talkative, bubbly Wright, who brought his personality to the NBA Saturday.
Wright took control of the team huddle at center court before the contest and shrugged his shoulders and broke into a toothy smile pointing to his teammates on the bench after he was whistled for traveling early in the game.
“I’m a vocal person and will stay that way,” Wright said. “I do not know everything about NBA basketball. If I can be encouraging to somebody, I will. This is not exactly the team we’ll have during the season. We have free agents here trying to make the team. Everybody’s working really hard at practice, but still helping each other out trying to be the best team.”
Wright’s game figures to flourish during the regular season with point guard deluxe Chris Paul finding him for open jumpers.
“Obviously, Chris Paul commands attention of the defense. It opens it up more,” Wright gushed.
Wright did not steal the show Saturday. Marco Belinelli, the Warriors’ first-round draft pick from Italy, exploded for 37 points off 14 of 20 shooting. He hit five of seven threes, sizzing on a day where temperatures exceeded 110 degrees.
Wright was actually fifth-leading scorer for the Hornets. Anthony Roberson, a guard out of Florida, scored 22 points, while Hilton Armstrong, 6-11 out of UConn, had 17. Jackson Vroman, a forward out of Iowa State, tallied 14, and Anthony Richardson, a guard out of Florida State, had 13.
