Brooklyn Nets: History of Nets in NBA All-Star Game
By Phil Watson
1985: Micheal Ray Richardson
Micheal Ray Richardson had climbed back up the mountain to start the 1984-85 season, coming back after missing nearly half the previous season while undergoing treatment for substance abuse.
Named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve in 1985, Richardson would be making his fourth career All-Star appearance after being selected three times while with the New York Knicks.
The 29-year-old had come to the Nets from the Golden State Warriors in a February 1983 trade for rookie Sleepy Floyd and veteran Mickey Johnson.
At the break, Richardson was averaging 19.2 points, 7.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals in 37.7 minutes per game, shooting 45.7 percent overall and 22.5 percent on 1.4 3-point attempts per game.
The Nets, however, were just 24-26 at the break, fourth in the Atlantic Division and seventh in the East, 6½ games clear of the ninth-place Knicks.
Richardson played 13 minutes at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, finishing with five points, two rebounds, two steals and an assists while going 2-for-8 overall and missing a pair of 3s.
The West rolled to a 140-129 win, with Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets taking down MVP honors with 24 points, 10 rebounds and a block.
The Nets would recover a bit, going 18-14 after the break, but were swept out of the playoffs in three games by the fourth-seeded Detroit Pistons.
Richardson’s NBA career ended abruptly in February 1986 when he was banned for life, with possibility for reinstatement after two years, by the NBA after a failed drug test.
Reinstated in 1988, Richardson never returned to the NBA, but played another 16 seasons, two in the Continental Basketball Association before going to Europe, finally retiring in 2002 at the age of 47.