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I’m a four-time All-Star handed a lifetime NBA ban, now I’m a kindergarten teacher and beauty salon owner
When you think of a kindergarten teacher, the image that springs to mind probably isn’t a 6ft 5in athlete who played pro basketball until the age of 47. But Michael ‘Sugar’ Ray Richardson is no ordinary substitute teacher and enjoyed one of the most intriguing careers of any hooper. Richardson was a remarkable athlete with no fearGetty A late bloomer, he did not make the varsity team at Manual High in Denver, Colorado, until his senior year. But he exploded at the University of Montana, leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer after averaging 24 points per game in his final year. It was enough for the New York Knicks to take ‘Sugar’ fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft and his sophomore season suggested a storied career was set to follow. He led the league in both assists and steals — just the third man ever to do so. Hall of Famer John Stockton and Chris Paul, who may end up joining him in Springfield, are the only people to do so since. Traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1982, he was sent to the New Jersey Nets a year later. Richardson — a 6ft 5in, 200-pound guard — was a matchup nightmare. “He was just fearless,” three-time All-Star Buck Williams, who played alongside him in New Jersey once admitted. “He never saw a player that he couldn’t dominate. He always just thought he was in command, not fazed by any of the great players in the league. “He would go toe-to-toe with them, and most of the time he’d outplay them.” Unfortunately, Richardson had developed a cocaine habit and failed a third drugs test in the winter of 1986. GettyRichardson’s NBA career was cut short by a ban[/caption] GettySugar attends a game between his former team Virtus Bologna and Real Madrid in 2023[/caption] Commissioner David Stern banned him for life, adding a clause allowing for reinstatement after two years if he was clean. Sugar never played another minute in The Association but his career wasn’t over. “It was a shock that I had this guy’s life in my hands,” Stern later said of the punishment, which he was obliged to enforce. “It was horrible. We agonized over it.” “When [the ban] happened, he was so distraught that he kind of disassociated himself from the team,” said former Nets teammate Otis Birdsong. “He fell off the face of the earth.” Sugar ended up playing in the Continental Basketball Association and around Europe, eventually retiring after a brief stint at French team AC Golfe-Juan-Vallauris in 2002 — 24 years after he was drafted. “He played as a power forward in (the CBA), and when he would get a rebound he would just take off with it,” Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said, after playing alongside him for the Albany Patroons. “He was just murder.” Richardson moved into coaching with the Patroons in 2004 but put down his clipboard in 2014 after winning back-to-back NBL Canada titles. Since then, he has been putting on youth basketball clinics with Birdsong — a longtime friend from their New Jersey days. GettyHis son Amir Richardson (right) plays soccer in Italy[/caption] Per the Missoulian, he and his wife, Kimberly, owned a beauty salon in Oklahoma. His son Amir currently plays pro soccer in Italy for Serie A team Fiorentina and internationally for Morocco, who he qualifies for through his mother — Richardson’s ex-partner Ilham Ngadi. Sugar has been teaching young children — a far cry from his days as a quick-tempered athlete. “Hey, I got my certificate and want to do a little more of that,” he told the London Free Press. “I’ve been working to get it for four or five years. “It’s the really young kids. I’m certified for older kids too but I don’t have the patience for the older kids.” Sugar’s book ‘Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption’ was released in 2023. Despite being the first victim of the league’s crackdown on drugs, Richardson is not bitter. In fact, he seems entirely satisfied with how his career panned out. “He [Stern] and I had an unbelievable relationship,” he told The Real News Network. “I didn’t blame David for anything that had taken place, because I did something wrong. I deserved to be punished, so he did what he had to do.” Nobody knows what could have been if Sugar Ray had stayed in the NBA but the 69-year-old climbed off the canvas and kept swinging, much like the boxing great whose nickname he borrowed.
When you think of a kindergarten teacher, the image that springs to mind probably isn’t a 6ft 5in athlete who played pro basketball until the age of 47.
But Michael ‘Sugar’ Ray Richardson is no ordinary substitute teacher and enjoyed one of the most intriguing careers of any hooper.
A late bloomer, he did not make the varsity team at Manual High in Denver, Colorado, until his senior year.
But he exploded at the University of Montana, leaving as the school’s all-time leading scorer after averaging 24 points per game in his final year.
It was enough for the New York Knicks to take ‘Sugar’ fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft and his sophomore season suggested a storied career was set to follow.
He led the league in both assists and steals — just the third man ever to do so. Hall of Famer John Stockton and Chris Paul, who may end up joining him in Springfield, are the only people to do so since.
Traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1982, he was sent to the New Jersey Nets a year later.
Richardson — a 6ft 5in, 200-pound guard — was a matchup nightmare.
“He was just fearless,” three-time All-Star Buck Williams, who played alongside him in New Jersey once admitted.
“He never saw a player that he couldn’t dominate. He always just thought he was in command, not fazed by any of the great players in the league.
“He would go toe-to-toe with them, and most of the time he’d outplay them.”
Unfortunately, Richardson had developed a cocaine habit and failed a third drugs test in the winter of 1986.
Commissioner David Stern banned him for life, adding a clause allowing for reinstatement after two years if he was clean. Sugar never played another minute in The Association but his career wasn’t over.
“It was a shock that I had this guy’s life in my hands,” Stern later said of the punishment, which he was obliged to enforce. “It was horrible. We agonized over it.”
“When [the ban] happened, he was so distraught that he kind of disassociated himself from the team,” said former Nets teammate Otis Birdsong. “He fell off the face of the earth.”
Sugar ended up playing in the Continental Basketball Association and around Europe, eventually retiring after a brief stint at French team AC Golfe-Juan-Vallauris in 2002 — 24 years after he was drafted.
“He played as a power forward in (the CBA), and when he would get a rebound he would just take off with it,” Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said, after playing alongside him for the Albany Patroons. “He was just murder.”
Richardson moved into coaching with the Patroons in 2004 but put down his clipboard in 2014 after winning back-to-back NBL Canada titles.
Since then, he has been putting on youth basketball clinics with Birdsong — a longtime friend from their New Jersey days.
Per the Missoulian, he and his wife, Kimberly, owned a beauty salon in Oklahoma.
His son Amir currently plays pro soccer in Italy for Serie A team Fiorentina and internationally for Morocco, who he qualifies for through his mother — Richardson’s ex-partner Ilham Ngadi.
Sugar has been teaching young children — a far cry from his days as a quick-tempered athlete.
“Hey, I got my certificate and want to do a little more of that,” he told the London Free Press. “I’ve been working to get it for four or five years.
“It’s the really young kids. I’m certified for older kids too but I don’t have the patience for the older kids.”
Sugar’s book ‘Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption’ was released in 2023.
Despite being the first victim of the league’s crackdown on drugs, Richardson is not bitter.
In fact, he seems entirely satisfied with how his career panned out.
“He [Stern] and I had an unbelievable relationship,” he told The Real News Network.
“I didn’t blame David for anything that had taken place, because I did something wrong. I deserved to be punished, so he did what he had to do.”
Nobody knows what could have been if Sugar Ray had stayed in the NBA but the 69-year-old climbed off the canvas and kept swinging, much like the boxing great whose nickname he borrowed.
