Four-time NBA All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson, who was banned from the league for drug use, died Tuesday in Lawton, Oklahoma, at the age of 70 shortly after a prostate cancer diagnosis, his attorney and friend John Zelbst told Marc J. Spears of Andscape and ESPN.
“The basketball world and anyone Micheal came in contact with lost a great sportsman,” Zelbst said. “He lived life to the fullest. He overcame the most incredible odds to accommodate what he did in life.
“He serves as an example on how to redeem yourself and make something of yourself. I think he is the greatest NBA player that has never been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Incredible player — player, person, and family man.”
Micheal Ray Richardson Had Eight-Year NBA Career
Nicknamed “Sugar,” Micheal Ray Richardson starred at the University of Montana before being selected by the New York Knicks with the fourth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft.
Richardson had an eight-year NBA career with the Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets, earning four All-Star selections while leading the league in steals three times.
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In 556 career NBA regular-season games (358 starts), he averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 2.6 steals, and 33.4 minutes per contest while shooting 45.7% from the field, 22% from deep, and 69% at the foul line.
According to Basketball Reference, Richardson averaged a career-high 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and a league-best 3.0 steals per game for the Nets during the 1984-85 season.
He was also named the 1985 NBA Comeback Player of the Year.
NBA Banned Richardson For Violating Drug Policy Three Times
Richardson was banned for life by NBA commissioner David Stern in 1986 for violating the league’s drug policy for a third time. The Denver native had substance abuse problems “stemming from cocaine use,” per Spears.
He was the first active NBA player to be banned by the league.
“My darkest day was when the guy [from the NBA] met me at the airport and told me I was banned from the NBA,” Richardson told Andscape in May.
“I will never forget that day. They waited for me in Newark. As soon as I got off the plane, I knew what was going on. After that, I went home and went on a few days binge. And then after that, I came to. I got myself into it. I have to get myself out.”
Richardson Continued His Career In Europe
After being banned from the NBA, Richardson had a short stint in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) before starring professionally primarily in Italy and France.
Richardson won the LNB Pro A championship with Olympique Antibes in 1995 and retired from professional basketball in 2002 after playing for AC Golfe-Juan-Vallauris in France.
Following his playing career, Richardson coached in the CBA for the Albany Patroons and the Oklahoma/Lawton-Fort Still Cavalry.
He led the Cavalry to three consecutive titles with the CBA in 2008 and 2009 and the Premier Basketball League (PBL) in 2010.
