In 2001 while working at Michigan State University with the men’s basketball program, I came across a slogan in which the women’s team at MSU was always emphasizing; Choice, Not Chance.
I often think back to that great slogan and think about how true it really is, not only in basketball but in life too.
For the next few days I’m going to write about former basketball players who had a ton of talent but for some reason, failed to live up to the expectations placed on them. Whether their downfall was due to drugs, lack of work ethic, criminal mischief, deviant behavior, uncoachable or poor attitude; it all boils down to the choices these players made. In no way do I want to bash these players, I want to use them as examples to younger players of today that the choices you make have a huge impact on your life.
During the early 80’s Michael Ray Richardson was my favorite basketball player. I was a huge New York Knicks fan and ‘Sugar’ was the point guard who ran the team. When I played I would emulate his drives to the basket by putting the ball over my head in traffic to avoid the defense and flick my lay-ups high off the glass. In Richardson’s second season he led the NBA in assists and steals. My friends and I would attend games at the Garden and I never took my eyes off #20 from the University of Montana. Sugar could do it all; rebound, push the ball in transition, pass and defend. He was a 6′5″ all-star point guard who fell victim to drugs. In 1986 he tested positive for drugs for the third time and was the first player banned from the NBA.
I watched him take guys off the dribble and drive to the rim finishing with slam dunks. He was great at stripping the ball out of his opponents hands; he was also very good at finding the open man; he was one of the best at the dribble drive, kick out. Sugar had a great smile, you could always see him joking around and kidding with teammates in warm-ups. After Knicks home games we would wait outside the player’s entrance on 33rd and 8th to meet the players for autographs and sneakers; out of all the players Sugar was always the most cordial to us. He always made time to rap with us. I was so intrigued by Richardson I saved up my money went to Cosby’s to purchase a Knicks home jersey with RICHARDSON on the back, way before wearing jersey’s became popular.
The legendary point guard Magic Johnson once said, “Micheal Ray was a guy who played just like I played. Every time I saw him, he went right at me.”
In the 2000 narrated film Whatever Happened to Micheal Ray?, Peter Vecsey of the New York Post said that “Isiah Thomas, to this day, tells me that the one guy he was scared of was Richardson.”
Michael Ray is currently a head coach in the CBA with the defending champion Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry.
-Coach Finamore
Hoops135@hotmail.com
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
Tags: basketball, CBA, Choice, Drugs, Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry, NBA, New York City, New York Knicks, Not Chance, Sports
