Micheal Ray Richardson put Sugar in Isaiah Thomas’ gas tank. He could match Earvin Johnson’s Magic, spell for spell.
[Manual High’s finest](https://www.denverpost.com/2020/08/08/micheal-ray-richardson-denver-manual-nba/) used to go into NBA locker rooms and playfully talk trash. And by locker rooms, we mean locker rooms, we mean his _opponents’_ locker rooms.
“He didn’t think Isaiah Thomas or Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan or anybody in the league was as good as him,” legendary East High coach Rudy Carey told the kids in the Grading The Week offices when they called to ask about “Sugar” Ray Richardson. Richardson, the former Denver prep star, Nuggets ambassador and NBA fallen angel, passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 70.
“He didn’t think there was a guard in that league,” Carey continued, “as good as him.”
And on most nights, he was absolutely right.
#### Micheal Ray Richardson’s comeback story — A
The Grading The Week team would like to raise a belated cup of sugar in a toast to Micheal Ray, a true basketball original.
A late grower who played on the Manual Thunderbolts’ 1972 state title-winning team, Richardson blossomed into a 6-foot-5 guard as a collegian at Montana. The Knicks drafted him with the fourth overall pick in 1978.
He flew like Icarus, earning three All-Star berths in New York and leading the NBA in assists (10.1 per game) and steals (3.2 per game) in 1979-80.
More than four decades later, Richardson still ranks second in Knicks history in career triple-doubles (18), trailing only the great Walt Frazier at 23.
But as the league’s popularity was taking off in the mid-1980s, Richardson’s wings melted — in 1986, he became the first active NBA player to be banned for life after a third violation of the league’s drug policy.
Imagine a smaller, faster Magic Johnson who played better defense, and you’d have a fairly rough, accurate sketch of Richardson at his NBA peak, said Carey, who knew the former Thunderbolt — and played against him — in the early ’70s.
“He was so competitive, so passionate, he would come right at you,” Carey recalled. “He didn’t care what your name was. He would come right back at you … he was quick as a cat. He was probably the quickest 6-5 person to ever play in the NBA.”
Richardson’s lifetime ban was lifted, although he chose to continue playing overseas until the age of 46. He went into coaching after that, teaching and mentoring during the winter of his days in Oklahoma.
“I’m going to miss him,” Carey said. “I’m going to really miss him.”
Richardson and Carey remained in touch through the decades, although the latter’s favorite story about the former hasn’t changed in nearly 50 years.
“Right after he got drafted (in 1978), Micheal went down to Rickenbaugh Cadillac,” Carey recalled. “And he didn’t have a dime in his pocket. But he went into the dealership down there and he wanted to order a car. And all he had was a (newspaper) clipping from the draft. And (the dealership) allowed him to order a car.
“He ordered a Rolls-Royce … they had a Rolls-Royce ready for him, before he’d signed, before he had (an NBA) paycheck.”
Alas, he didn’t get to keep that Rolls for very long.
“(The Knicks) made him take (it) back,” Carey chuckled. “He had to send it back West. (Coach) Willis Reed told him, ‘Earl Monroe wasn’t driving a Rolls. No rookie was going to be driving a Rolls.'”
RIP, Sugar. May all the lanes above be sweet. And may the angels be prepared to get a loving earful.
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