00:00Former Knicks star Michael Ray Richardson, who was the first NBA player to ever be banned for life for drug violations,
00:07died Tuesday in Oklahoma at the age of 70 following a battle with prostate cancer.
00:12Richardson, who went by the nickname Sugar, was a star at the University of Montana before the Knicks drafted him with the fourth pick in the 1978 NBA draft.
00:22He spent four seasons in New York where he averaged a little over 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game while missing just a total of 13 games.
00:34He earned two all-star bids and was also selected to two first-team all-defensive honors.
00:39The Knicks then included him in one of the most famous trades in team history where they sent him and a fifth-round pick to the Warriors for Bernard King.
00:48He ended up playing in just 33 games with the Warriors before they traded him to the Nets for Sleepy Floyd and Mikey Johnson, and he then finished his NBA career with the Nets.
01:00Unfortunately, his playing days in the NBA ended early when he received a lifetime ban in 1986 for violating the league's drug policy three times.
01:10He noted his cocaine addiction in his book, Banned, How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption.
01:19After the suspension, he played in the United States Basketball League and the Continental Basketball Association, and he even enjoyed a successful post-NBA career playing in Europe.
01:30After his retirement, he got into coaching as well.
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