Former Dayton Flyers star Chris Wright retires from basketball

Former Dayton Flyers star Chris Wright announced his retirement from basketball Monday, officially ending a playing career that saw him make 32 appearances in the NBA in two seasons.

“It’s been one helluva FLYGHT!” Wright wrote on Instagram. “Now it’s time to officially sign off on one of the most memorable chapters of my life. Thank you, God, for such an incredible journey. To my mom — thank you for believing in me from day one and never putting pressure on me to be anything specific, except the best Chris I can be.

“Thank you to my family who supported me unconditionally and traveled to cities near and far to watch me play the game I love. To my teammates and coaches from the start of my journey at Parkside and QCP, to Trotwood, UD, stopping in OKC, and every team in between, I can’t thank you enough for pushing me to be better.

“Finally, I’m forever grateful for all of those who supported me along the way as a student-athlete and professional athlete, from Dayton to every city that I traveled to and played in. I was able to live out my childhood dream of playing in the NBA and every stop along the way has taught me lessons and helped me grow into the man I am today. After 10 years playing pro and 29 years overall in the game, it’s now my turn to give back the knowledge and experiences I’ve learned to the youth of families all around the world.”

The Trotwood-Madison graduate Wright, the 15th-leading scorer in UD history (1,601 points), made the roster of the Golden State Warriors as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He appeared in 24 games that season and made his only career start. He was the first Flyer to make it to the NBA since Negele Knight debuted in 1990.

Wright scored a career-high 26 points against the San Antonio Spurs in the final game of the 2011-12 season.

“I didn’t know I was going to start until right before we were getting ready to go out,” Wright told the Dayton Daily News after that season. “My heart started beating fast. I had to really shut it down. I prepared myself mentally during warm-ups that I was going to play right away. I just tried to bring as much energy as possible and play my game and not try to do too much.”

Wright also found himself guarding Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant during one game that season.

“I get in the game, and when you’re guarding someone, you’re not used to seeing a jersey saying the Lakers,” Wright said in 2012. “You look at the back of the jersey and it says, ‘Bryant 24.’ And I’m like, ‘Man, I’m really guarding Kobe right now.’ But it has to go away so fast. I got a first foul on him. After that, I was really learning how to guard him. I’m not saying I was actually stopping him, but I was really seeing how you’ve got to guard these guys because they’re so good. That’s when I knew I really actually made it in the NBA.”

Wright made it back to the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks late in the 2013-14 season and made eight appearances. He also spent time playing in Israel and Poland and played parts of six seasons in the NBA G League, most recently in the 2018-19 season. He was inducted into the Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.

Wright’s Flyght Development LLC has been working on building a sports complex in Trotwood. He and another former Flyer, Joey Gruden, also started a post-graduate prep basketball team last year. He also is the co-owner of Orion Sports Medicine in Miamisburg.