Michael Ray Richardson might be one of the best players of his era who has been more or less forgotten by many today.
Richardson came out of the University of Montana - not exactly a basketball factory - as the fourth overall pick. The New York Knicks spent a year allowing him to mostly sit and learn on the bench (coach Red Holzman usually did that with rookies), and then he was unleashed on the league in year two.
For three years, Richardson was something of a terror. He could score, averaging about 16 points per game. He could rebound, with the number close to seven per game. He could pass, leading the league in assists at 10.1 per game as a sophomore. Michael Ray also led the NBA in steals that year, as his height and quickness made him a tough opponent.
So ... what happened?
That's essentially the point of Richardson's book, "Banned." What happened was that Richardson made a new friend around that point in his life. It was called cocaine. The NBA had some serious drug problems on its plate in the late 1970s and in the 1980s, and Richardson became something of a poster boy for it.
Richardson started to do some experimenting the drug, and found that he really, really liked how he felt with it in his system. The guard's game started to slowly deteriorate, and teams started to notice. He bounced from the Knicks to the Warriors to the Nets, where a playoff series win over the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984 was basically the only team highlight of his career.
Eventually, Richardson couldn't hide his problem any more, as he started missing practices and playing poorly. Rehab efforts really didn't work. He made some history in a sense as the first NBA player to violate the "three strikes and your out" policy when it came to drugs, as he was banned from the league for life (with the possibility of parole).
Michael Ray (his first name was incorrectly misspelled for years as Micheal for some reason) eventually fled to Europe, and played basketball there well into 40s. He cleaned up his act over there, and was generally beloved by many of the fans of his teams. Richardson eventually came back to the United States and became a minor-league basketball coach, winning some championships in the process. He also was fully pardoned by NBA Commissioner David Stern, which allowed him to do some community service work with the league. In other words, there's a generally good ending to the story here, and that's nice. Anyone who battles drug addition and comes out on the other side in one piece is worth some applause.
As for the book, the most dramatic parts come when Richardson describes the details of his addiction. There are the times when he moved into an apartment, and a friendly drug dealer happened to be in the same building. They became fast friends. The thought of Richardson, in the midst of stardom, wandering the meanest streets of New York in search of drugs, is hard to shake.
But, the book is on the slight side. Every chapter has something of a testimonial at the end from a teammate, opponent or family member that includes glowing comments about Richardson as a person and player. He has two forewords and an introduction in the book (George Gervin, Nancy Lieberman and Otis Birdsong are enlisted for that job) that hit the same tone before we even get to Richardson.
There are also moments along the way that are a little head-shaking. Richardson seems to have put an interesting perspective on his player career. He put himself on his own all-time all-NBA team, and he claims that the NBA has made videos of his playing career invisible. To be fair, if your teams win one playoff round in a career, you probably aren't going to pop up on the NBA Network very often.
Meanwhile, Richardson had trouble getting along with coaches during his playing days, and notes that later on as a coach he often would explode and get thrown out of games. Along the way, he didn't seem to take his wedding vows too seriously at most points in his life. Michael Ray says he's in a good place with family right now, although it sounds like Thanksgiving dinner might be an interesting time.
It's tough to put all of those pieces together, but Richardson comes across in "Banned" as someone has tried to be the most part to be a good player and a good teammate over the years. It just hasn't worked out at times. He's developed some loyal friends along the way, which says something about him. After reading it, you'll understand how Michael became something of a poster boy in the NBA of the 1980s for unfulfilled potential.
Three stars
Learn more about this book from Amazon.com. (As an Amazon affiliate, I earn money from qualified purchases.)
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