During the early 1980s, Michael Ray Richardson was among the NBA's brightest young stars while playing for the New Jersey Nets.
He was on pace to join the league's greats until drugs derailed a once promising career.
“There are a lot of times where I try to put my finger on it like, ‘How did I ever get into it?,’ ” Richardson told Andscape. “I never was a drinker when I was in college. Never was a weed smoker. And to this day, I couldn’t put my finger on how I got involved. I just don’t know.
The publication did a lengthy profile on Richardson because he lives in Lawton, Okla. With the Oklahoma City Thunder being one game from their first championship, it was the perfect time to tell his story.
During the 1984-85 season, Richardson averaged a career-high 20.1 points with 8.2 assists and 5.6 rebounds. He also averaged a league-high three steals. He was banned by the league after testing positive for cocaine for a third time. He spent the rest of his playing career overseas before finally retiring in 2001.
“Once you start doing it, the s— just takes over and you don’t think you have a problem,” Richardson said. “Anything that you do that you can’t stop means that you got a problem. Gambling, sex, alcohol, drugs, it’s all the same.”
The full story from longtime NBA writer Marc J. Spears can be found here.
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