Michael Ray Richardson, former NBA and Virtus Bologna star, dies

Michael Ray Richardson, nicknamed Sugar, former NBA and Virtus Bologna star, has died at age 70. He had long been afflicted with prostate cancer. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, on April 11, 1955.

Playmaker, he landed in the NBA as the fourth overall pick in 1978 from the University of Montana, playing four seasons with the New York Knicks, half with the Golden State Warriors and three with the New Jersey Nets.

In 1986 he was disbarred by league commissioner David Stern for triple cocaine positivity and so came to play in Italy, at Virtus Bologna, where he stayed three seasons winning two Italian Cups (1989 and 1990) and a Cup Winners’ Cup (1989-90). Later he also played in Livorno, twice, the second at age 44, and in Forlì.

In the NBA he was twice in the best defensive quintet, once best assistman (in 1980) and three times first in recovered balls, in whose all-time ranking he is second all-time for the number of balls recovered per game: 2.63. He also played in the All-Star Game four times.