Майкл "Шугар" Рей Ричардсон: Американдық баскетболшының өмірі мен мансабы

American basketball player and coach

Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. The No. 4 overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Richardson played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight years with the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets. He was a four time NBA All Star, and led the league in steals in three seasons. He later became a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada).

Richardson was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son of Billy Jack Richardson and Luddie Hicks. Richardson was a 1974 graduate of Manual High School in Denver, Colorado. He averaged 10 points on a talented team and did not start for the varsity team until he was a senior. Richardson played on the 1972 state championship team.

Richardson played collegiately at the University of Montana. He was recruited to the Big Sky Conference school by Hall of Fame Coach Jud Heathcote after Richardson's Denver basketball friend David Berry had visited the school. As a freshman in 1974 1975 Montana went 21 8 and qualified for the 1975 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, as Richardson averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. The Grizzlies defeated Utah State 79 63, before losing to the eventual National Champion UCLA Bruins 67 64. Montana then lost to UNLV in the regional 3rd place game. Richardson averaged 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a sophomore in 1975 1976, as Montana finished 13 12. After the season, Coach Heathcote left for Michigan State University, where he would win the 1979 NCAA title. Under Coach Jim Brandenburg, who had been an assistant under Heathcote, Richardson averaged 19.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists as Montana finished 18 8 in 1976 1977. As a senior, Richardson averaged 24.2 points and 6.9 rebounds in 1977 1978, and Montana finished 20 8, capturing the Big Sky regular season title. In his Montana career, Richardson averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 49% shooting in 107 career games. Richardson was First team All Big Sky Conference as a sophomore, junior and senior. Today, Richardson still shares the Montana single game scoring record of 40 points, and holds the single game record for field goals of 18 and the single season scoring average record of 24.2. Richardson is third on the Montana career assists list (372), second in career scoring (1,827 points) and ninth in career rebounding.

The New York Knicks drafted Richardson with the fourth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, and he was billed as "the next Walt Frazier." Two picks later, the Boston Celtics drafted future Hall of Famer Larry Bird. In his second year, Richardson became the third player in NBA history (Slick Watts – 1976, Don Buse – 1977) to lead the league in both assists (10.1) and steals (3.2), setting the Knicks' franchise records in both categories. He also recorded 18 triple doubles, the second most in franchise history. During the 1980 81 NBA season, Richardson made his second All Star game, scoring 11 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, and recording 4 steals in a 123 120 Eastern Conference victory. The Knicks eventually finished 50 32 and Richardson made the playoffs for the first time in his career. However, in the first round, Richardson, who averaged 11.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 steals per game in the series, and the Knicks lost in an upset to the Reggie Theus led Chicago Bulls. The following season, on November 27, 1981, Richardson scored his highest single game total as a Knick, with 33 points in a 116 95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At the beginning of the 1982–83 season, on October 22, 1982, Richardson was traded to the Golden State Warriors (along with a fifth round draft choice) in exchange for Bernard King. On February 5, 1983, Richardson recorded a double double with 10 points and 11 assists, while adding 9 steals, in a 106 102 win over the San Antonio Spurs. After playing only 33 games for the Warriors, Richardson was traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Sleepy Floyd and Mickey Johnson on February 6, 1983.

In the 1984 playoffs, Richardson led the Nets to a shocking upset of the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers. In the fifth and deciding game, he scored 24 points and had six steals. In the following series, against the Milwaukee Bucks, Richardson led the Nets to a Game 4 victory with a team high 24 points. However, the Nets would ultimately lose the series in six games. In 1985, Richardson was named the NBA Comeback Player of the Year after averaging 20.1 points and leading the league in steals while playing all 82 games, after only playing 48 games in the prior season due to rehabilitating from substance abuse. On October 30, 1985, Richardson barely missed a quadruple double when he scored 38 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, recorded 11 assists, and stole the ball 9 times, during a 147 138 win over the Indiana Pacers. Richardson wore Leather Converse All Stars briefly with the Nets, making him the last to wear the shoe in any form in the NBA. In 556 career NBA games, Richardson averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.6 steals. In 18 career playoff games, he averaged 15.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals.

On February 25, 1986, Richardson was banned for life by NBA commissioner David Stern for three violations of the league's drug policy. He regained the right to play in the NBA in 1988, but decided to continue his career in Europe. He never played in the NBA again, despite being reinstated. Richardson bitterly complained that the 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 Black while Mullin is White, and became a frequently cited example of destructive lifestyles in the NBA.

Richardson played with the Long Island Knights of United States Basketball League in 1986–87.

Richardson played with the Albany Patroons of the CBA in 1987–88, before playing for 14 seasons in Europe.

In 1988, Richardson signed with Virtus Bologna, a prominent European team, with which he won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. Richardson played for KK Split (1991–1992), Baker Livorno (1992–1994), Olympique Antibes (1994–1997), Cholet Basket (1997–1998) and Montana Forlì (1998–1999). Richardson played for Basket Livorno (1999–2000), Olympique Antibes again (2001) and finally, AC Golfe Juan Vallauris (2002) at age 47. Richardson won the European wide second tier level FIBA Cup Winners' Cup, in the 1989–90 season with Virtus Bologna. He won the LNB Pro A championship with Olympique Antibes in 1995.

On December 14, 2004, he was named head coach of the Albany Patroons in the CBA. Richardson had previously played with Albany in 1987 1988, when it won its second CBA championship under Coach Bill Musselman.