Micheál Richardson

Micheal "Sugar" Ray Richardson (born April 11, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. He most recently was head coach of London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada. Richardson played college basketball for the Montana Grizzlies. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight years, most notably for the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets.

Richardson was born in Lubbock, Texas. The New York Knicks drafted him 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 (1. Slick Watts – 1976, 2. Don Buse – 1977) to lead the league in both assists (10.1) and steals (3.2), setting Knicks franchise records in both categories. He also recorded 18 triple-doubles, the second-most in franchise history.

At the beginning of the 1982–83 season, Richardson was traded to the Golden State Warriors (along with a fifth-round draft choice) in exchange for Bernard King. After playing only 33 games for the Warriors, Richardson was traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Sleepy Floyd and Mickey Johnson.

He would be named an all-star as a Net, playing on the Eastern Conference all-star team said to have frozen out Michael Jordan. 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. 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. Richardson wore Leather Converse All Stars briefly with the New Jersey Nets, making him the last to wear the shoe in any form in the NBA.

In 1986, Richardson was banned for life by NBA commissioner David Stern for 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 went on to play a few seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), and United States Basketball League (USBL), as well as 14 seasons in Europe. There, he signed with Virtus Bologna, a prominent European team, in 1988, and he remained with the club for 3 seasons. With Virtus Bologna, he won the European-wide second-tier level FIBA Cup Winners' Cup, in the 1989–90 season. In Italy, he stayed 2 seasons (1992–1993 and following) in Baker Livorno, and 1 (1998–1999), in Montana Forlì. He also won the French League championship with Olympique Antibes, in 1995.

He 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 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 narrated by Chris Rock.

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.

On May 24, 2007, he was named head coach of the reincarnated Oklahoma Cavalry of the Continental Basketball Association.

Richardson later coached for Lawton-Ft Sill Cavalry located in Lawton, Oklahoma, and he led his team to victory to the CBA Finals in 2008 and 2009 and in the PBL Finals in 2010.

Richardson was ejected from the first game of the 2010 Premiere Basketball League Championship Series. The game took place at the Blue Cross Arena on April 22, 2010, in Rochester NY. Richardson had been given several warnings and a technical foul for berating and arguing with referees in the game against two-time PBL Champion Rochester RazorSharks. The ejection took place with under 3 seconds remaining in the game that was eventually won by Rochester in overtime by a tally of 110-106. The ejection led to a skirmish between fans and several Lawton-Fort Sill players which ended the game with 2.6 seconds to go on the clock and Rochester about to go to the free throw line.

On March 25, Richardson led the Lightning to a 116-92 victory over the Halifax Rainmen in a deciding Game Five of the NBL Canada Finals to win the NBL Canada's inaugural championship. After the game, Richardson was named the NBL Canada Coach of the Year for 2011–12.

Richardson left the Lightning following the 2013–14 season to pursue coaching positions closer to home.