The casket be sinkin’: RIP Michael Ray Richardson

[Baron Scicluna]

Former NBA All-Star who was banned for life for drug use dies.

Richardson, NBA star before ban, dies at age 70

The skies the limit for him now.

 

[dixiehack]

If you could have bet on him living to 70 in the middle of his playing days then you could pay off 50-year mortgages for the entire block.

 

[Neutral Corner]

First thing I thought was "He made it to 70?!?"

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Man, that sucks. He got it together and sounded like he was happy in that story about his 70th birthday. Incredible player, incredible story, incredible comeback. RIP.

 

[Webster]

Probably my first favorite player. Such a talent

 

[Jake from State Farm]

When Magic Johnson was at Michigan State, Jud Heathcote was asked if he’d ever seen anyone who was as good. Heathcote said: “Micheal Ray Richardson can do everything Magic can do but Micheal is 6-4 and Magic is 6-9.”

 

[LanceyHoward]

I watched him play in the Colorado State High School basketball tournament for Manuel High School when I was in high school. My memory was that he was not the star of the team which is why he wound up at Montana. But it makes me feel very old that the guys I watched in high school are dying.

 

[ChrisLong]

When Magic Johnson was at Michigan State, Jud Heathcote was asked if he’d ever seen anyone who was as good. Heathcote said: “Micheal Ray Richardson can do everything Magic can do but Micheal is 6-4 and Magic is 6-9.”

I had a high school coach give me that same quote when I asked about Dennis Thurman and Dennis Smith, who were 2 years apart. "Smith can do everything Thurman can do, and he's taller." Both were All-Americans at USC and All-Pros in the NFL

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Magic was tall enough and thick enough to play a true 5, which is a position almost extinct everywhere except maybe in the high school ranks where a 2A-ish school has someone 6-6 or taller. LeBron in his prime might've been able to if called upon.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Magic was tall enough and thick enough to play a true 5, which is a position almost extinct everywhere except maybe in the high school ranks where a 2A-ish school has someone 6-6 or taller. LeBron in his prime might've been able to if called upon.

One of my very first sporting memories is Kareem being sidelined with migraines and Magic playing center in the clinching G6 of the 1980 Finals.

 

[Starman]

 

[MileHigh]

I watched him play in the Colorado State High School basketball tournament for Manuel High School when I was in high school. My memory was that he was not the star of the team which is why he wound up at Montana. But it makes me feel very old that the guys I watched in high school are dying.

The Denver Post couldn't be bothered to do its own obit. Instead, it has a New York Daily News story on its website. The only mention that he graduated from Manual was in a deck hed. No mention of him in the story.

I got more from a social media post from a close friend who was a PR director in the CBA and worked with him to do a lot of interviews, which he did.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Isiah Thomas said Magic and Micheal Ray were his two toughest matchups

 

[LanceyHoward]

The Denver Post couldn't be bothered to do its own obit. Instead, it has a New York Daily News story on its website. The only mention that he graduated from Manual was in a deck hed. No mention of him in the story.

I got more from a social media post from a close friend who was a PR director in the CBA and worked with him to do a lot of interviews, which he did.

I doubt if anyone on the Denver Post staff, other than maybe Patrick Sanders, knew he went to Manual. The Post has not had a high school sports reporter in years and the other institutional knowledge has been jettisoned.

I also remember reading a story about David Thompson's descent into addiction that said he used to go over to the house of an NBA star who lived in Denver in the off-season and doing drugs. I wonder who's house that would have been?

 

[MileHigh]

I doubt if anyone on the Denver Post staff, other than maybe Patrick Sanders, knew he went to Manual. The Post has not had a high school sports reporter in years and the other institutional knowledge has been jettisoned.

I also remember reading a story about David Thompson's descent into addiction that said he used to go over to the house of an NBA star who lived in Denver in the off-season and doing drugs. I wonder who's house that would have been?

Quite true. And apparently now looking for a sports editor, though I have not heard exactly what happened.

 

[dixiehack]

Quite true. And apparently now looking for a sports editor, though I have not heard exactly what happened.

The ship be sinking.

 

[MileHigh]

The ship be sinking.

That ship be sunk. And they have not paid rent to the city of Denver on a building the city bought for the past four months.

Which makes me laugh because the city didn't do it's job vetting things and because same city laid me off and F them.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Patrick Saunders, who seems like a really nice guy who also tries his best to give the Rockies real beat coverage, is at least in Vegas this week, though for all we know he's driving back and forth every night and/or staying at Circus Circus.

 

[MileHigh]

Patrick Saunders, who seems like a really nice guy who also tries his best to give the Rockies real beat coverage, is at least in Vegas this week, though for all we know he's driving back and forth every night and/or staying at Circus Circus.

Or commuting from Mesquite, Searchlight or Laughlin.