Micheal Ray Richardson

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Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955) is a former pro basketball player. He was born in Lubbock, Texas.

Richardson played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. He played in the NBA for eight years, most notably for the New York Knicks from 1978 to 1982. He is best known for four things:

• His bright success at the beginning of his career. He was the 4th overall pick in the 1978 draft, and in his second year, he became only the second player in history to lead the NBA in both assists and steals. Nate "Tiny" Archibald was the first to accomplish the feat with the Kansas City Kings.

• He ruined his career because of drugs (and bitterly complained that the several suspensions he received from the NBA were unfair given the fact that Chris Mullin was never disciplined by the league for his well-documented alcohol problem, implying that this "double standard" existed because Richardson is African-American while Mullin is white), and became a frequently cited example of destructive lifestyles in the NBA. He was the subject of the 2000 film Whatever Happened to Micheal Ray?, a look at his troubled life. It was narrated by Chris Rock. IMDB.

• At the beginning of the 1982-83 season, he was sent to the Golden State Warriors as compensation for the New York Knicks signing Bernard King as a free agent. After playing only 33 games for the Warriors, Richardson was traded to the New Jersey Nets. In the 1984 playoffs, Richardson was spectacular, leading the Nets to a shocking upset of the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers. In the fifth and deciding game, Richardson scored 24 points and had six steals. While the Knicks showed mild improvement after trading Richardson, that improvement was short-lived, ending when King was felled by a devastating knee injury midway through the 1984-85 season.

• The quote "the ship be sinking", which he used to describe the Knicks' prospects towards the end of his career. In the 2000s, this phrase became a popular meme among sportswriters (example). This quote has also incorrectly been attributed to others, including Tracy McGrady. The full exchange is as follows:

• • REPORTER: What do you think is happening to the team?
  • RICHARDSON: The ship be sinking.
  • REPORTER: How far can it sink?
  • RICHARDSON: Sky's the limit.

Richardson went on to play a few seasons in the Continental Basketball Association and United States Basketball League as well as 14 seasons in Europe. There, he enrolled Virtus Bologna, a prominent European team, in 1988 and remained 3 seasons. In Italy, he stayed 2 seasons (1992-1993 and following) in Baker Livorno and 1 (1998-1999) in Montana Forlì.

Richardson's first name is frequently misspelled "Michael".

On December 14, 2004, he was named head coach of the Albany Patroons in the Continental Basketball Association. This is Richardson's second stint with the Patroons; he played for the team during the 1987-88 season, in which Albany won its second CBA championship.

[edit] External links

• ESPN article about Richardson
• Career stats
• Patroons announcement
• More Career Stats