About Wright Thompson

By Josh Needelman

A native of Clarkdale, Mississippi, Thompson studied journalism at University of Missouri, serving as a Missouri football beat writer and columnist.After his junior year at Missouri, Thompson landed an internship with the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He was hired by the paper upon graduating, and immediately became the beat writer for the LSU football team.

Upon leaving the Times-Picayune, Thompson joined the Kansas City Star where one of his role models, Joe Posnanski, worked. Thompson wrote weekly long-form feature stories ranging from 3,000 to 3,600 words.

In 2006 he joined ESPN, where has crafted many award-winning stories. Notably, he received the 2010 Scripps Howard Award for Human Interest stories. His work has been featured in Best American Sports Writing seven times, and his story, “Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building,” was recently nominated for a 2014 National Magazine Award.