Former NBA star Micheal Ray Richardson dies at age 70

Nov 11, 2025, 10:25 AM ET

Four-time NBA All-Star Micheal Ray Richardson, who was banned from the league for drug use, died Tuesday in Lawton, Oklahoma, at the age of 70 shortly after getting diagnosed with prostate cancer, his attorney and friend John Zelbst told Andscape.

“The basketball world and anyone Micheal came in contact with lost a great sportsman,” Zelbst said. “He lived life to the fullest. He overcame the most incredible odds to accommodate what he did in life. He serves as an example on how to redeem yourself and make something of yourself. I think he is the greatest NBA player that has never been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Incredible player — player, person and family man.”

The Denver native starred at the University of Montana before being selected by the New York Knicks with the fourth overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. “Sugar,” as he was nicknamed, had an eight-year NBA career with the Knicks, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets, earning four All-Star selections while leading the NBA in steals three times. The 1985 NBA Comeback Player of the Year also averaged a career-high 20.1 points, 8.2 assists, 5.6 rebounds and a league-best 3.0 steals per game for the Nets during the 1984-85 season.

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“He had it all as a player, with no weaknesses in his game,” former Detroit Pistons guard Isiah Thomas, a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, told Andscape in June. “He is the player who gave me the most problems playing against him. He was taller, just as fast and could shoot from 3 and midrange. His post-up game was elite. Offensively, he had it all.”

“Back when he played in the NBA, the best guards were Magic (Johnson) and then ‘Sugar,'” former NBA guard Quinn Buckner said.

Richardson, however, was banned from the NBA in 1986 for violating the league’s drug policy for a third time. The two-time NBA all-defensive first-team selection had substance abuse problems stemming from cocaine use. After being banned from the NBA, he had a short stint in the Continental Basketball Association before starring professionally primarily in Italy and France. Richardson retired from professional basketball in 2002 after playing for AC Golfe-Juan-Vallauris in France.

Micheal Ray Richardson, nicknamed “Sugar,” was a four-time All-Star during his eight-year NBA career with the Knicks, Warriors and Nets. He was banned from the NBA in 1986 for violating the league’s drug policy for a third time. Focus on Sport/Getty Images

“My darkest day was when the guy [from the NBA] met me at the airport and told me I was banned from the NBA,” Richardson told Andscape in May. “I will never forget that day. They waited for me in Newark. As soon as I got off the plane, I knew what was going on. After that, I went home and went on a few days binge. And then after that, I came to. I got myself into it. I have to get myself out.”

Richardson also coached in the Continental Basketball Association for the Albany Patroons and the Oklahoma/Lawton-Fort Still Cavalry. Richardson led the Cavalry to three consecutive titles with the CBA in 2008 and 2009 and the Premier Basketball League in 2010. He coached the London Lightning of NBL Canada from 2011-14 and has coached basketball camps for underserved communities each summer since 2014 with former Nets teammate Otis Birdsong in Florida, New Jersey and California. Richardson also previously served as an ambassador for the Denver Nuggets in the early 2000s.

Richardson retired to Oklahoma with his wife, Kimberly, and was a regular at Oklahoma City Thunder games in recent years. In 2024, Richardson co-authored a book about his life called, “Banned: How I squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding a Redemption.” His son, Michael Amir Junior Richardson, plays professional soccer in Italy for Fiorentina and nationally for Morocco.

Micheal Ray Richardson described it as a “blessing” to turn 70 years old in April which was celebrated by family members during a surprise birthday party in Phoenix.

“I’m still here after all the s— I’ve gone through,” Richardson told Andscape in May. “I was thanking everyone for coming. It was a surprise. All of my friends were happy to see me because I haven’t seen all of my friends in 10 years. It’s really good to see your friends because every year you lose somebody.”

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