Mitch Richmond

Mitch Richmond

Richmond at his Jersey Retirement Ceremony in 2003
St. John's Red Storm
Position Special assistant coach
League Big East Conference
Personal information
Born (1965-06-30) June 30, 1965
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Boyd Anderson
(Lauderdale Lakes, Florida)
College
NBA draft 1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career 1988–2002
Position Shooting guard
Number 23, 2, 9
Career history
19881991 Golden State Warriors
19911998 Sacramento Kings
19982001 Washington Wizards
2001–2002 Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 20,497 (21.0 ppg)
Rebounds 3,801 (3.9 rpg)
Assists 3,398 (3.5 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Mitchell James Richmond (born June 30, 1965) is an American retired professional basketball player and current special assistant coach of the St. John's Red Storm. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College[1] and Kansas State University. He was a six-time NBA All-Star a five-time All-NBA Team member and a former NBA Rookie of the Year. In 976 NBA games, Richmond averaged 21.0 points per game and 3.5 assists per game. Richmond was voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.[2] His nicknames include "The Rock". His jersey No. 2 was retired in his honor by the Sacramento Kings, for whom he played seven seasons. He was on the cover of the video game NBA Live 97.

College career

One of the most recognizable players in Kansas State history, Mitch Richmond was a two-year letterman for head coach Lon Kruger from 1986–88. He helped guide the Wildcats to a 45–20 (.692) record, including a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the 1988 NCAA Midwest Regional Final. His 1,327 points are the most by a player in a two-year career.[3]

NBA career

Golden State Warriors (1988–91)

Richmond was drafted 5th overall in the 1988 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, following two years at Kansas State, where he averaged 20 points per game, and two years at Moberly Area Community College.

Richmond captured the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 1988–89 season, after averaging 22 points per game for the Warriors. He was a key part of Don Nelson's fast-paced offense, focusing on Richmond and teammates Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin which was dubbed "Run TMC" (the initials of the players' first names and a play on the name of the popular rap group Run DMC). In addition to the shooting he provided, he complemented Hardaway's passing and fast break skills and Mullin's shooting skills by slashing to the hoop as part of the Warriors' attack.

Sacramento Kings (1991–98)

After three years of scoring 22+ points a game in Golden State, Richmond, on November 1, 1991,[4] was traded (along with Les Jepsen) to the Sacramento Kings during the 1991–92 season in exchange for the rights to Billy Owens,[5] and became arguably the team's first star since the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985. Staying with the Kings until 1998, Richmond was the team's leading scorer in each of his 7 seasons there, averaging no fewer than 21.9 points a game each season. Between 1993 and 1998, Richmond was a fixture on the Western Conference's All-Star team, and he won MVP honors at the All-Star Game in Phoenix, in 1995. In the middle of his prime, Richmond was selected to the United States' Olympic team (Dream Team III), earning a gold medal in Atlanta. During his prime, Richmond was recognized as one of basketball's all-time best pure shooters.[6]

Washington Wizards (1998–01)

Richmond was traded by the Kings, along with Otis Thorpe, to the Washington Wizards for Chris Webber in May 1998, a move that keyed the Kings' transformation from perennial doormat to an elite title contender. However, things did not work out as well for Richmond. In three years with the Wizards, he lost a lot of the shooting touch he displayed as a King, and his days as a regular were numbered after missing half of the 2000–01 season.

Los Angeles Lakers (2001–02)

Richmond signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played the final year of his career. Playing strictly off the bench, he averaged 4 points a game. He earned an NBA championship ring with the Lakers in 2002 but played sparingly in the postseason, logging 4 minutes overall. In game 4 of the finals, Richmond dribbled out the clock to win the title with the Lakers.

National team career

Before coming to the NBA, he played for the U.S. national team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, winning the bronze medal. He became a member of the team again at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, U.S. and won the gold medal with 11 other NBA players (including David Robinson, who was also on the USA men's national basketball team in 1988).

In August 2010, Richmond played in the NBA Asia Challenge 2010 at Araneta Coliseum in Manila, an exhibition game which pitted NBA legends and NBA Development League players against Philippine Basketball Association stars and legends.[7]

Personal

Mitch Richmond is the cousin of NFL defensive back Lardarius Webb.[8]

Mitch and his wife Julie have three sons, and a daughter, Phillip, Jerin, Shane Richmond, and Tearra Gates with Teala Jones.[9] [10]

Phillip played basketball as a walk-on for the Oregon Ducks from 2014–2016.[11]

Hall of Fame

Mitch Richmond was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for 2014, and formally entered the Hall on August 8.[12]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Denotes seasons in which Richmond won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988–89 Golden State 79 79 34.4 .468 .367 .810 5.9 4.2 1.0 0.2 22.0
1989–90 Golden State 78 78 35.9 .497 .358 .866 4.6 2.9 1.3 0.3 22.1
1990–91 Golden State 77 77 39.3 .494 .348 .847 5.9 3.1 1.6 0.4 23.9
1991–92 Sacramento 80 80 38.7 .468 .384 .813 4.0 5.1 1.2 0.4 22.5
1992–93 Sacramento 45 45 38.4 .474 .369 .845 3.4 4.9 1.2 0.2 21.9
1993–94 Sacramento 78 78 37.1 .445 .407 .834 3.7 4.0 1.3 0.2 23.4
1994–95 Sacramento 82 82 38.7 .446 .368 .843 4.4 3.8 1.1 0.4 22.8
1995–96 Sacramento 81 81 36.4 .447 .437 .866 3.3 3.1 1.5 0.2 23.1
1996–97 Sacramento 81 81 38.6 .454 .428 .861 3.9 4.2 1.5 0.3 25.9
1997–98 Sacramento 70 70 36.7 .445 .389 .864 3.3 4.0 1.3 0.2 23.2
1998–99 Washington 50 50 38.2 .412 .317 .857 3.4 2.4 1.3 0.2 19.7
1999–00 Washington 74 69 32.4 .426 .386 .876 2.9 2.5 1.5 0.2 17.4
2000–01 Washington 37 30 32.9 .407 .338 .894 2.9 3.0 1.2 0.2 16.2
2001–02 L.A. Lakers 64 2 11.1 .405 .290 .955 1.5 0.9 0.3 0.1 4.1
Career 976 902 35.2 .455 .388 .850 3.9 3.5 1.2 0.3 21.0
All-Star 5 1 22.0 .439 .500 .500 2.4 2.6 0.2 0.0 11.4

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1989 Golden State 8 8 39.3 .459 .188 .895 7.3 4.4 1.8 0.1 20.1
1991 Golden State 9 9 41.3 .503 .333 .958 5.2 2.4 0.6 0.7 22.3
1996 Sacramento 4 4 36.5 .444 .348 .800 4.3 3.0 0.8 0.0 21.0
2002 L.A. Lakers 2 0 2.0 1.000 .000 .500 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5
Career 23 21 36.3 .479 .302 .869 5.3 3.0 1.0 0.3 19.5

See also

References

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