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Mitch Richmond
Mitch Richmond cropped.jpg
Richmond in 2010
Personal information
Born (1965-06-30) June 30, 1965 (age 59)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
High school Boyd Anderson
(Lauderdale Lakes, Florida)
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
College
  • Moberly Area CC (1984–1986)
  • Kansas State (1986–1988)
NBA Draft 1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Pro career 1988–2002
Coaching career 2015–present
Career history
As player:
1988–1991 Golden State Warriors
1991–1998 Sacramento Kings
1998–2001 Washington Wizards
2001–2002 Los Angeles Lakers
As coach:
2015–2019 St. John's (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
  • NBA champion (2002)
  • 6× NBA All-Star (1993–1998)
  • NBA All-Star Game MVP (1995)
  • 3× All-NBA Second Team (1994, 1995, 1997)
  • 2× All-NBA Third Team (1996, 1998)
  • NBA Rookie of the Year (1989)
  • NBA All-Rookie First Team (1989)
  • No. 2 retired by Sacramento Kings
  • Consensus second-team All-American (1988)
  • No. 23 retired by Kansas State Wildcats
Career statistics
Points 20,497 (21.0 ppg)
Rebounds 3,801 (3.9 rpg)
Assists 3,398 (3.5 apg)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold 1996 Atlanta Team competition
Bronze 1988 Seoul Team competition
Universiade
Silver 1987 Zagreb Team competition

Mitchell James Richmond III (born June 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College 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. His jersey No. 2 was retired in his honor by the Sacramento Kings, for whom he played seven seasons.

Early life

Mitchell James Richmond III was born on June 30, 1965, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He attended Boyd H. Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, where he excelled in basketball.

College career

Richmond began his college career playing for the Moberly Area Community College Greyhounds. He scored 1,023 points from 1984 to 1986, before joining the Kansas State Wildcats.

One of the most recognizable players in Kansas State history, Mitch Richmond was a two-year letterman for head coach Lon Kruger from 1986 to 1988. 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.

Professional career

Golden State Warriors (1988–1991)

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 (1991–1998)

After three years of scoring 22-plus points a game in Golden State, Richmond, on November 1, 1991, was traded (along with Les Jepsen) to the Sacramento Kings during the 1991–92 season in exchange for the rights to Billy Owens, 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 seven 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.

Washington Wizards (1998–2001)

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. Richmond's departure from Washington coincided with the Wizards signing Richmond's perennial rival at the shooting guard position, Michael Jordan.

Los Angeles Lakers (2001–2002)

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, just seconds after making the last basket of his career, 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, Georgia, U.S. and won the gold medal along with David Robinson, who was also on the U.S. 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.

Personal life

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

Richmond and his wife Julie have three sons, Phillip, Jerin, and Shane Richmond, and he has a daughter, Tearra Gates, with Teala Jones. Shane died at age 20 in 2019 with no cause disclosed.

Phillip played basketball as a walk-on for the Oregon Ducks from 2014 to 2016.

Halls of Fame

Richmond was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014, and inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

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

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 .1 20.1
1991 Golden State 9 9 41.3 .503 .333 .958 5.2 2.4 .6 .7 22.3
1996 Sacramento 4 4 36.5 .444 .348 .800 4.3 3.0 .8 .0 21.0
2002† L.A. Lakers 2 0 2.0 1.000 .000 .500 .5 .0 .0 .0 1.5
Career 23 21 36.3 .479 .302 .869 5.3 3.0 1.0 .3 19.5

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Mitch Richmond para niños

  • List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
  • List of National Basketball Association rookie single-season scoring leaders
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