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Brooklyn Nets: 10 best players from 1st NBA decade (1976-86)

By Phil Watson

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - MAY 1984: Buck Williams #52 of the New Jersey Nets shoots during the 1984 NBA Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks in May 1984 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - MAY 1984: Buck Williams #52 of the New Jersey Nets shoots during the 1984 NBA Playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks in May 1984 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON – 1985: Micheal Ray Richardson #20 of the New Jersey Nets shoots against Danny Ainge #44 of the Boston Celtics during a game played in 1985 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1985 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /

147. . PG. Acquired in trade from Golden State, Feb. 6, 1983. Micheal Ray Richardson. 2. player

Micheal Ray Richardson came to the New Jersey Nets in February 1983 after running into trouble with the Golden State Warriors, with rookie point guard Sleepy Floyd and veteran Mickey Johnson going back to the Bay Area in return.

Richardson was effective with the Nets after the trade, averaging 12.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.6 steals in 32.3 minutes per game on .438/.200/.671 shooting.

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    • He had been placed into the NBA’s drug program while with the Warriors and suffered a setback in 1983, missing the first 34 games of the 1983-84 season suspended while in treatment.

    He did come back to put up 12.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.1 steals in 26.8 minutes a night on .460/.241/.704 shooting.

    Clean and healthy the following season, Richardson earned an All-Star berth in 1984-85 — the fourth of his career — and won NBA Comeback Player of the Year honors after leading the league in steals at 3.0 per game while also averaging 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 8.23 assists in 38.1 minutes.

    It came crashing to a halt in February 1986 when Richardson was issued a lifetime ban after failing a drug test during a season in which he had been averaging 15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.7 steals in 34.1 minutes a game.

    While he was reinstated two years later, Richardson never played in another NBA game, instead playing until 2002 — when he was 46 years old — in Europe.

    With New Jersey, Richardson hung up 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.7 steals in 33.7 minutes per game on a slash lien of .459/.232/.751.

    In 16 postseason games, he averaged 16.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.7 steals in 39.1 minutes while shooting.405/.240/.707.

    During the 1976-86 period with the Nets, Richardson was second with 1,410 assists and 51 3-pointers and third with 552 steals.

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