just 34 years old, ren was larger than life, according to close friend bill adkins. how popular was he here in memphis? bill adkins: oh, extremely, extremely. everybody loved lorenzen. he was just popular. i mean, you couldn't-- you had to notice him. i mean, 6 foot 11, 6' 10". he walks in the door, everybody knows it's him. andrea canning: charismatic, yet humble. ren was as generous as he was outgoing. he was kind to everyone. i never saw a time when he would shun people away or say crude or rude things to people. the guy would give you the shirt off his back. movie star looks? oh, yeah, charming. quite charming. handsome guy. andrea canning: lorenzen was at the end of a solid nba career. now divorced and living in atlanta, but he would often come back to memphis to visit. so on a sunday in late july, ren arrived and spent part of the day with close buddy phil dotson and some other old friends. phil dotson: the perfect sunday afternoon of just, you know, the guys hanging and bonding. andrea canning: a few hours later, phil took ren to pick up his oldest son at a lo