photo: sportsecyclopedia.com
Micheal Ray Richardson, a.k.a. Sugar, was born in Lubbock, Texas and grew up on the east side of Denver, Colorado. He was one of seven kids raised by a single mother in the brick-faced house on 1625 Martin Luther King Blvd.
His personal journey has all of the Shakespearean elements: the rise from humble origins to the crescendo of his profession, the tragic flaw of addiction and the subsequent, inevitable fall.
But his basketball tragedy has a Hollywood ending of sorts. It’a a tale of redemption, of triumph over despair, a celebration of starting over to do things better and the strength of the human spirit. Lost in the sauce is that the Sugar man was one of the greatest point guards to ever lace ‘em up.
His game was forged on Denver’s blacktop. During the notorious rocky mountain winters, he shoveled snow to clear some space on the playgrounds in order to put in work. Sugar got Bizmark at Manual High School but was overlooked by the big-time colleges. He earned a scholarship to the University of Montana and forced people to take notice of his sweet game. A 6′5″ point guard who played both ends of the court with a flair, determination and natural instinct, he avg’d 24 ppg as a senior and is still the school’s all time leading scorer.
In ‘78, the Knicks selected him with the fourth overall pick. He quickly morphed into the second coming of NY’s beloved Clyde Frazier when he led the entire league with 10.1 assists and 3.23 steals per game in ‘79-’80, only his second season.
With his size and overall skill set, he was Magic’s equal and some even said, BY GOLLY, that he was better due to his superior quickness. He was a walking triple-double waiting to happen, drawing comparisons to the legendary Big O, Mr. Oscar Robertson. Isiah Thomas said that he was the only player he ever feared. Larry Bird called him the best baller on the planet.
photo: nba.com
He was also famous for his quotes, none of which were more ubiquitous than this classic gem he delivered when talking about the Knicks diminishing playoff hopes one season:
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.
But off the court, he partied as hard as he played ball. His Benz seemed permanently parked outside of Studio 54 and the Paradise Garage, two of the wildest nightclubs ever in the history of civilization.
Remember that in the ’80s, cocaine flowed like water and was the “prestigious” drug favored by many. It was not the sole province of black basketball players, though the media would have had you believe so, given the spectacular flameouts of guys like Roy Tarpley, Chris Washburn and the tragic death of Len Bias.
Traded to Golden State and then back east to the Nets, he quickly turned the moribund NJ franchise into contenders with his All-Star play. In ‘84, he led them to their improbable first round playoff victory over Dr. J and the defending NBA champion 76′ers. He was a one man wrecking crew that year – averaging 20 points, 8 boards and 6 dimes nightly.
photo: espn.go.com
But the wreckage of drugs soon smothered his life and career. David Stern, who was just beginning his career as the best commisioner ever in pro sports, banned him for life after three failed drug tests in ‘86. He was the first casualty of the new, tough, three strikes and you’re out policy. He seemed destined to lose the battle against his personal deamons, surely headed toward the abyss of drug addiction.
But Sugar summoned that inner strength, went overseas to play ball and in the process, saved his life. He played 14 years in Israel, Italy, France and Croatia.
A few years back in 2000, he was still giving them the Bernard Hopkins old man business at the age of 44 in Italy.
Stern actually re-instated him to return to the NBA in ‘88. But being overseas helped him get and stay sober.
“When I first left and went over to Italy, during my first year I kind of missed it,” Richardson told Mark Spears of espn.com. “Then, my second year I had a chance to play for the 76ers. But they only wanted to give me one year (on a contract) and I wanted two years. I was already 32 years old. I felt Micheal Ray would last a little longer if I stayed in Europe. It lasted a whole lot longer. I missed it, but I can say I was able to play in the NBA and be a successful basketball player. Where I am in my life now, I feel blessed. When you look at Len Bias, he didn’t have a chance. For me to sit back and think about, ‘What if?,’ I just don’t do that because even with what I went through I still played another 11 years of professional basketball. Plus, I still have my good health.”
When the Verase Roosters were playing the San Antonio Spurs in the ‘99 McDonald’s Open at the FilaForum in Milan, David Stern and Sugar Ray were hugging like high school sweethearts. Two years earlier at the Mcdonald’s Open in France, they’d met for the first time since the ban in ‘86.
“He came up and I said, ‘Hi Micheal Ray. How ya doing?’” Stern told Christopher Isenberg of the Village Voice. “‘I’m doing great,’ he said. ‘I got a new wife, a kid, I’m still playing.’ And then he said, ‘I want to thank you.’ I said, ‘You want to thank me? What do you want to thank me for?’ He said, ‘I want to thank you for saving my life.’ ”
Today, the Sugar man is still in the game, with numerous recent coaching stints in the CBA and doing community relations work for the Knicks and Nuggets.
photo: nypost.com
Back in the days of my youth and early teens, Micheal Ray Richardson was the truth. He was one of the greatest of his era, along with cats like Kevin McHale, Moses Malone, Adrian Dantley, Magic, Larry, Doc, Barkley, Sidney Moncrief, The Dream, The Iceman, Isiah, James Worthy, Dominique, Patrick, Air Jordan and the rest.
With the mushroom afro, hot pants shorts and socks pulled all the way up, he was dropping cats like Iron Mike Tyson before Don King, Robin Givens and her mom got their hands on him.
Cutting to the tin with the ill slashes and the gorgeous, improbable dimes or running past the speed limit while delivering feather soft passes with either hand or the long range jimmy’s or ripping down boards or HOWEVER you wanted it to get done, that was Sugar Ray. For those who saw the show before it left the states, we’ll never forget. And his game, sweet as sugar, had its genesis in the parks of Denver.
THE PLAYGROUND IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT IS THE SOLUTION!
October 24th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Ali says:
yo funk! you were asking for the tiny archibald joint – (cue public enemy) here it is…
http://www.bouncemag.com/2008/07/15/tiny-archibald-playground-basketball-alejandro-ali-danois-utep-basketball-best-small-man-in-basketball/
October 24th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
illest says:
Sometimes there is no point to comment because you sum it up beautifully. But Ill add this anyway….
I havent seen anyone as good as he was from the point guard position offensively and defensively. He had no weaknesses….except for the white of course. These point guards today would do nothing against him. Its scary how good he should of been. Definitely an all time great…And he had the ill Dynasties with the ill Nike poster. And the ill Ponies…at the same time.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
ali says:
i concur illest. he was better than Jason kidd, because he could give you similar numbers in rebounds and assists. be he could also, consistently score 30 a night if he had to. no weaknesses!
and illest, i appreciate the compliment. so even if you feel comments are unnecessary, drop ‘em anyway.
question: what pg in today’s game would be considered better than Sugar?
October 24th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
illest says:
ali..
none. there is none. because he would kill nash, paul, williams whoever. he killed isiah. gave magic fits. so you know he would kill these guys today.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Sean Couch says:
Michael Ray was one of the best transition guards I’ve seen and played against. It took him a year to get adjusted to the league. His second year was incredible. It’s always good
to see a man stand up after getting knocked down by addiction and men and women willing to give a second chance.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
nosmelone says:
nice, this cat was sick. I’ve heard of him but that clip was sick. At about 1:40 into it he splits the defenders and pulls up for a 3 and the two defenders fall, that is ridiculious!!!! Great read as well.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
illest says:
now i need to go see the whatever happened to micheal ray documentary again. his right to play in the NBA again was in 88. imagine a backcourt of him and pearl. or would the nets have drafted pearl?
October 24th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Forgive a brother for taking a vacation, during the run of the “Tiny” piece. Good looks on the link!
Oh, Mike Ray was that dude. I have always said that he was “Magic before Magic”. He was an iconoclast as a lead guard, because although Big “O” put up serious numbers, he did not perform with the showmanship, guile or speed of a Mike Ray. He is the original “Big” lead guard.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
ali says:
he, indeed was magic before magic. and it’s cool funk, everyone’s entitled to that vacation.
couch, i wholeheatedly agree with the second chance sentiment. there’s greatness in all of us, even those who are down and defeated. so long as there’s breath in your body, there’s always a chance to turn things around.
nosmelone, glad you could put the words and images to what you’ve heard.
you want to talk about imagine – let’s forget the fact that they were traded for each other and imagine sugar and bernard king with a young stallion named ewing.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
illest says:
the backcourt of sugar and otis birdsong was ill too. the ill backcourt is a thing of the past.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
ali says:
yeah, illest, otis birdsong had a very nice game. he was an all american at houston and the southwest conference player of the decade in the ’70s. he scored more joints in college than guys like calvin purphy and kareem. i believe he was a top 3 pick in the ‘77 draft. he scored over 14,000 points in the league. sugar and the bird were a very, very nice backcourt tandem.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
sugar’s knick backcourt partner ray williams was a monster in the playground, hitting the xavier hs pro-am, west 4th mt. vernon, and other tournaments every summer. ray’s brother gus was also active on the asphalt, and still is. long live the burgunday and navy blue knicks unis! and toby knight!
October 25th, 2008 at 1:22 am
dj ho says:
another great piece ali. i dont think i’ve ever heard of the guy, maybe his name once in an article. thanks for giving us a picture and glimpse of this old school player.
It doesn’t seem like he was bitter about being banned from the NBA. He probably was initally, but when he looked back, that probably gave him life again. nice redemption story and inspiring to all of us.
October 25th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Kenny Patt says:
He use to hang by the Grand Concourse & 183 during those dark times and no one ever believed us when we use to tell people that we saw him chilling on the park benches. His comeback is very inspirational.
October 25th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Illest made me think, who are the “funkiest” backcourts of all-time: Frazier-Monroe;Magic-Byron; Chauncey-Rip; Gus-DJ;West-Goodrich; Cousy-Sharman;Joe-Isaiah; Stockton-Hornacek;Porter-Chenier; Hazzard-Maravich;Bing-Walker: Jordan-whomever; Kobe-Gary, just to name a few.
October 25th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
PFTB says:
Another classic joint from Ali.
Sugar was sweet for real.His combination of size ,speed,showmanship on the offense & defensive end was unsurpassed.The closest to him were Magic,Oscar and JKidd,but each of these players lacked (at least)one of the components I mentioned.Sugar is the only one who brought all of those attributes in one package.
Yo funk, I wanna nominate the Sloan-Van Lier backcourt only because they’re the only backcourt that could probably put physical harm to ANY backcourt ( and some frontcourts) in NBA history.I also gotta vote for Parker -Ginobli(outside of Vince Carter & DWade) no other players make more offbalance/odd angle shots (that go in)than these two “funky foreigners”.
October 26th, 2008 at 12:29 am
ali says:
wow,
the greatest backcourts? that’s tough. PFTB, in terms of currently, i do love tony parker and manu. back in the day, how sweet was clyde frazier and earl the pearl? or mo cheeks and andrew toney? but i’d have to say overall, it was a tie between isiah, joe dumars and the microwave along with magic, byron scott and coop (michael cooper was bananas!). most slept on – mark price and ron harper.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:49 am
funkalot says:
Ali and PFTB,
Good choices for backcourts. How could I forget about Charlie Scott and JoJo White and Paul Westphal and Ricky Sobers. If we are talking three the he hardway we must include downtown Fred Brown to go with DJ and Gus. Oh, what about Run Tmc’s Tim and Mitch and D Harper and Ro Blackman.
This is not taking into account backcourts from the playgrounds like Skip and steph or Pee Wee and Joe, Anti-Freeze and Africa,etc.
“And the Funk goes on!”
October 26th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
ali says:
man,
how could any playground backcourt compete with pee wee and the destroyer. funk, thanks for the tim hardaway, mitch richmond, chris mullin flashback. we also can’t sleep on john stockton and jeff hornaceck. but i’m gonna bring it home with doc rivers, derek harper, ro blackmon, greg anthony and john starks for the knicks.
October 26th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
B-X says:
I still got Ray’s photo with autograph on my wall
October 26th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
best high school backcourt in nyc history . . . my bid goes for pearl washington and elmer ‘cinemax’ anderson of boy high . . .
October 26th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
ali says:
derrick phelps and khalid reeves wasn’t too bad at christ the king. terry dehere and bobby hurley at st. anthony’s is up there. kareem reid and eric harris at st raymond’s too.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Giuseppe Carlomagno says:
It’s Varese, no Verase…
October 27th, 2008 at 9:43 am
illest says:
john lucas and calvin murphy….magic and norm…iceman and johnny moore…
October 27th, 2008 at 10:34 am
ali says:
oooh! magic and norm nixon! thanks illest. lucas and murphy were little guys, but boy could they give it. that’s probably the best little man backcourt, but joe dumars and isiah would’ve given them the business.
and it’s the varese rosters. thanks guiseppe.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:35 am
ali says:
varese roosters that is
October 27th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
funkalot says:
Fellas,
For NYC high school backcourts consider the following:
Clinton ‘64 – Nate “Tiny” Archibald (UTEP/Pro HOF) and Willie Worsley (Point guard Texas Western University/”Glory Road” Movie)
Note: Texas Western would become UTEP and Willie helped to steer Nate there.
Clinton ‘74 – Butch Lee (Marquette/Olympics/LA Lakers), Ricky Sobers (UNLV/Phoenix Suns) and Arnold Dugger (Oral Roberts/Rucker)
Jackson ‘85 – Greg “Boo” Harvey and Lloyd “Swee Pea” Daniels.
Mount Vernon ‘71 – Gus Williams (USC/NBA), Earl Tatum (Marquette/NBA) and Ray Williams (Minnesota/NBA).
Pro add ons: Drexler-Porter and future HOFs J-Kidd and In-vince- ible Carter.
Funk on!
October 27th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
ali says:
yeah funk,
clinton ‘74 is tough to beat, as well as mount vernon ‘71.
how about the best playground backcourts. i liked erik barkley and kareem reid, as well as steph and skip. i know pee wee and the destroyer probably get the nod, but pearl and steve burtt was ill. they ran together with walter berry, the animal, ed pinkney, gary springer at a few tourney’s.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:34 am
illest says:
vince is a future hofamer but not a hall of fame player.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:46 am
ali says:
hey illest,
why isn’t vince a hall of fame player? he’s definitely not the force of nature he once was at this point in time, but overall, why do you think he falls short?
October 29th, 2008 at 9:54 am
funkalot says:
Ali,
What was the name of the team you referenced with the greatest assemblage of talent that I can remember: Pearl, Steve Burtt, Richie “the animal” Adams,Walter Berry, Easy Ed Pinckney and Gary Springer. That squad could have won an NCAA chip. NYC was loaded from ‘80 to ‘82 with talent, with the additions of: Eugene “Beetle” Washington, Jerry “Ice” Reynolds, Chris Mullin, John Salley, Kenny Hutchinson and Kenny Patterson, to name a few.
Illest,
Vince will be a Hall of Famer, similar to Dominque, for mystique and eventual nos. Remember, he is only in his 11th season and conservatively giving him 1500 pts a season for the next four, will place him in the top 20-25 scorers all time in the “L”. Plus,he is an 8-time All-Star, has averaged over 25p, 7r and 5 dimes in the playoffs, 1999 Rookie of the Year, Olympic Gold Medalist and Dunk contest winner. Also, he is owner of the universally acknowledged greatest play/dunk ever, with the leap over Frederic Weis.
Just food/stats for thought.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:31 am
illest says:
he is a future hall of famer. i know he will get in. but when i have watched vinces career i dont feel and say vince is a hall of famer. its a feeling. (except for his first few years) like for example i know bernard king is. i know artis gilmore is. id rather have andrew toney than vince but toney will never get in and doesnt have the numbers like vince. i cant always go by the numbers. and i cant indict someone to endorse someone else. i know the numbers and all star appearances. hes not clutch. doesnt always take the big shot. hes a soft player. to leave to go graduate during a game 7 is crazy. you think the top players of all time would do that? his focus wasnt totally on the game. now….i realize he still took the last shot to win and missed. but you are leaving a room for skepticism when you do that type of thing.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
ali says:
funk,
i’ll ask pearl and steve burtt what the name of that team was. they went up to play the mccray brothers and ray and gus up in some tourney in mount vernon.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
ali says:
illest,
was dominique better than vince, in your opinion?
October 30th, 2008 at 8:38 am
illest says:
yes. i know its easy to compare them.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
luca bollina from bologna italy says:
i saw this man playing for my favourite teamin bologna from 88 to 91,and i had a little conversation with him…i saw basketball since 30 yrs ago,i”ll neverfind the rifght word to describe his greatness on the court.Thank you ,Sugar,you gave a moooore excting youth,during those clumsy italian 80’s.aAll the best to you