The 9:01: Surveying weekend news on the Lorenzen Wright case, the 'Corker Kickback,' Grizzlies double-dip and more

Good morning in Memphis, where we're spinning Christmas tunes and counting down the days, but first ... 

The Wright Arrest: The breaking news of the weekend was the long-in-coming arrest of Sherra Wright, who was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy for the killing of her ex-husband and three-level Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright. 

This is a deeply sad story, about the death of a community emblem but also a father and a son. It's a nasty family story. It's also a helplessly compelling true-crime tale, the kind of headline that finds itself ripped into a fictionalized "Law and Order" story line:

Sherra Wright, 46, has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, Memphis police Director Michael Rallings said. Federal marshals arrested her late Friday in California and she was being held in Riverside County.

Authorities said Wright and co-defendant Billy Turner are charged with previously trying to kill Lorenzen Wright.

This has been characterized as an "ongoing" investigation, and if you read the story closely there are several hints that others may have been involved, from the characterization of the recently recovered gun as "one of the murder weapons" to this from Lorenzen Wright's mother:

Marion said she got a call from Memphis police about 10 p.m. Friday and went down with her family to police headquarters.

“It’s just those two right now,’’ Marion said. “But they’re still working on it.’’

In the wake of the news, Sports Illustrated re-circulated this from their investigative piece a few years ago:

All Eyes on Corker: It's been a newsy few months for Tennessee senator Bob Corker, who became the most public critic of the Trump administration among the Senate GOP and announced he would not seek re-election. Now he's at the center of a hotly contested tax bill GOP leaders are trying to pass with the most narrow of margins. 

Corker, who sited concerns about adding to the deficit, had seemed to be the firmest, perhaps the only, "no," among Senate Republicans. But then, a few days ago, he abruptly switched to a "yes." 

Was this change of heart prompted by some personal pork barrel? 

From International Business Times:

Republican congressional leaders and real estate moguls could be personally enriched by a real-estate-related provision GOP lawmakers slipped into the final tax bill released Friday evening, according to experts interviewed by International Business Times. The legislative language was not part of previous versions of the bill and was added despite ongoing conflict-of-interest questions about the intertwining real estate interests and governmental responsibilities of President Donald Trump — the bill’s chief proponent. ...

Sen. Bob Corker, who was considered a potential “no” vote on the bill, abruptly switched his position upon the release of the final legislation. Federal records reviewed by IBT show that Corker has millions of dollars of ownership stakes in real-estate related LLCs that could also benefit.

This was dubbed the "Corker Kickback," a phrase that trended on social media over the weekend, but Corker pushed back at the suggestion:

Sen. Bob Corker asked a top Senate Republican on Sunday to explain how a provision that will provide a tax break to people with large commercial real estate holdings ended up in the final version of the tax reform package that Congress is expected to approve this week.

“Because this issue has raised concerns, I would ask that that you provide an explanation of the evolution of this provision and how it made it into the final conference report,” Corker wrote in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

The tax bill is expected to get a vote this week, and the spotlight is firmly on the Tennessee's junior senator.

If You're Flying:

Knowledge Bowl Recap - White Station 405, Overton 60: This match between two in-the-city public schools was the most diverse Knowledge Bowl match I can remember. Of the eight contestants, two were white, two black, and four from various Asian or Middle Eastern backgrounds, those demographic designations divided equally among each team.

I wish I could tell you more about the participants, but Saturday’s broadcast was broken up by a live broadcast of the Lorenzen Wright press conference, so I only got the first and last five minutes, and not the meet-the-players section.

Based on the two snippets that were broadcast, White Station senior captain Connor (one of my All-Knowledge Bowl team picks last season) was the high scorer, joined by fellow senior Grace and two sophomores (!) Gideon and Aryaman. We’ll learn more about them in the second round. (Hey Connor: Great job! But… c’mon.)

It’s more sad we didn’t see more of Overton, whose all-Senior team was led by captain Kaitlyn and also included Wilson, Koung, and Jaden.

After this big win, White Station will go on to face Houston in the second round. This Saturday’s match will feature Kingsbury vs. Brighton.

Quick-and-Pop: Apparently it's big Grizzlies interview week. Chris Wallace did a long sit-down with Ron Tillery over the weekend and there might be another somewhat similar airing on the horizon. We'll wade into this in Pick-and-Pop form when our appointed rounds arrive.

On the weekend, the Grizzlies got a split on the home back-to-back (aside: I kind of hate these), beating a terrible Atlanta team on Friday but pulling up short against a terrific Boston team on Saturday. It was a weird thing where the Grizzlies actually looked better in the loss. The Atlanta game was only the Grizzlies' second win since November 7, with the team on a 2-17 run since then. The Grizzlies open this week only a game out of the Western Conference basement, but still only 5.5 games out of the playoffs.

Look for an injury update today on the status of Mike Conley (and Wayne Selden and Brandan Wright). 

Stars, they're just like us: Spotted Chandler Parsons (or at least my wife did, I didn't notice him) leaving the Midtown Cafe Eclectic yesterday. This is only my fourth ever Grizzlies player doing normal stuff in Midtown sighting, following Ed Davis and Jerryd Bayless (separately) at Kroger and Shane Battier playing video golf at the Deli. 

Finally, the Boston game was the half of the weekend split I attended, and let's just say that it's odd that Memphis had fewer Boston transplants when the Grizzlies were good and the Celtics were bad. Thanks to Nashville visitor Fastbreak Breakfast for this juicy bit of Saturday night FedExForum reconnaissance:

Additional Reading:

Congratulations to former colleague Phil Stukenborg, who has been named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame. 

Speaking of feisty Memphis basketball losses to more talented teams, Geoff Calkins was in New York to see the Tigers come up a little short against Louisville.

The Fadeout: We'll do Christmas songs this week. Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" is one of the classics, best known in the Bing Crosby version. Locally, Otis Redding did a great version, but my favorite is the Drifters' 1954 version, with Clyde McPhatter going high and Bill Pinkney going low on vocals. 

Reach Chris Herrington at chris.herrington@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @chrisherrington and @herringtonNBA.