SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Coroner's investigators conducted an autopsy Tuesday on Ricky Berry, the promising professional basketball star who police say mysteriously committed suicide after an argument with his wife.
Berry, the Sacramento Kings' top NBA draft pick in 1988, shot himself in the head with a 9mm handgun inside the family room of his suburban Sacramento home, Sacramento County sheriff's investigators said.
Berry, 24, began arguing with his wife Valerie after spending Sunday night at their new home eating pizza and playing video games with four friends.
Valerie Berry left the house after the quarrel and spent the night elsewhere. She found her husband's body and a suicide note when she returned the next morning.
Results of the autopsy and a routine toxicological test were not immediately available.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
A spokesman for the Kings said Berry was not being treated for mental problems, stress, or ailments at the time of his death.
The Sacramento County Coroner refused to release the contents of the short note found next to Berry's body, but the Sacramento Union reported an unnamed source close to the investigation said it was addressed to his family and 'indicated what he intended to do, but had no clear explanation as to why.'
The Union also quoted unidentified sources as saying that the Berrys' 15-month-old marriage was on the rocks.
'They didn't communicate very well,' an unnamed friend said. 'She didn't seem to have many of the same interests as Ricky.'
In an interview earlier this year with the Sacramento Bee, the couple said their marriage was difficult because they spent so much time apart. Ricky Berry often was away from home during basketball season, and Valerie Berry frequently visited her family in the San Francisco Bay area.
The Union reported that Berry had been trying to date a 16-year-old high school student, but did not specify when. The girl's mother, who was not identified, reportedly said she once intercepted a telephone call from the basketball player and threatened him.
'I made it very clear that if he ever called here again, I'd have him arrested,' she was quoted by the newspaper. 'Here was a married, 24-year-old man asking a 16-year-old for a date.'
Berry and his wife moved into their $360,000 home on a tree-lined street in Carmichael just three weeks ago.
He ended his rookie year with the Kings as one of the most accurate long-range shooters in the NBA. The versatile Berry played both forward and guard for the Kings. He reportedly had two years remaining on a three-year, $1 million contract.