medium sizeIchel Ray Richardson is a great player: a four-time NBA All-Star guard. He was also the first player to be banned for life from the league for drug use, a situation that was more common during his playing days. Back in the 1980s, substances like cocaine were part of not just professional sports but society and entertainment at large, Richardson said, and during what some still call the NBA’s crack era, talking about drugs was commonplace. “During warmups,” Richardson said, “guys from different teams would say, ‘Yo, man, I got what you were looking for. When do we get together? [the game] it’s over. and Prosperity That’s how it goes.
At the time, drugs were “everywhere — like a fad,” said Richardson, who goes by the nickname “Sugar.” But in the NBA, it alienated many fans. To correct this, the NBA instituted a strikeout system, which led to Richardson’s ouster in 1986 (all of which he discusses in his upcoming memoir, “Banned”).
Today, except for the 10-foot basket and five-on-five games, the NBA no longer resembles the league of the late 1970s and early 1980s. But when it comes to drugs, that change takes time. For Richardson, who grew up in the Midwest and started using drugs after succumbing to peer pressure while playing for the Knicks in New York City, drugs were not a part of his early life. Then they caught up with him, leading to a years-long drug addiction. But his story is far from unique. When David Stern took over as NBA commissioner in 1984, one of his top priorities, besides promoting Magic Johnson’s rivalry with Larry Bird, was One is to clean up the game. That meant a suspension and a lifetime ban (Richardson was also the first player to return to the NBA, in 1988, but he never returned to the league).
Still, professional basketball at the time was rife with addiction and lost potential. Marvin “Bad News” Barnes may be the poster boy for the drug problem. His biography, Bad News, details his life of substance abuse, which included hanging out with drug kingpins and derailing what would have been a Hall of Fame career. He went from averaging 24.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the ABA in 1975-76 to averaging 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in the NBA one season later. Barnes retired from professional basketball in 1980 and, despite multiple attempts, never kicked the habit before his death in 2014. In 1986, the same year Richardson was banned for life, Boston Celtics rookie Len Bias died of a drug overdose just 22 hours after being drafted. “He found something bad,” Richardson said. “It was a sad moment. It was a wake-up call for everyone.
Also in 1986, All-Star John Drew was banned for life for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. That same year, Rockets guard John Lucas was waived by the team after his drug problem became so severe. (Lucas later turned his life around, becoming an NBA coach, founding a rehabilitation center, helping save the lives of many athletes, and even leading a team led by Steffi Graf Professional tennis team.
In 1987, All-Star Eddie Johnson was suspended for drug use. Former No. 3 pick Chris Washburn was suspended in 1989. Dumas (Richard Dumas) was sent away. The list goes on. But it’s not just the players. Coaches and executives are affected by substance abuse. Usually in the form of alcohol.
“When I was [Continental Basketball Association],” Richardson said. “My coach Bill Musselman – he used to go to that bar after games, and he would immediately get red. He would be very drunk. But there were a lot of coaches who drank. At that time It’s easier to accept.
Drug abuse was so rampant in the NBA in the 1980s (even Michael Jordan talked about it) that teams reportedly hired private investigators to spy on their players, from Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Norm Nixon to then-Richard Richardson . Richardson believes his lifetime ban, combined with Bias’s death and other bans, finally forced players to confront their drug use. They know the real impact is coming, with the league demanding better behavior. Still, the NBA, like all walks of life, has since had to deal with other examples, from alcoholism to prescription drug dependence.
Other leagues like the NFL and MLB also have to deal with serious drug issues, from opioids to painkillers to steroids to marijuana use, which is now legal in many U.S. states and the NBA will stop testing in 2021 (a fact Much to the chagrin of Richardson), who has now been drug-free for decades). All sports face problems with gambling and gambling addiction. Richardson said there was a problem with heroin when it came to the NBA (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar even admitted to trying it once), and then it fell apart. The only remedy is to keep your distance. “You have to keep yourself away from those places,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t give you the opportunity to do that. Remove yourself from those situations.
Newsletter Promotion Post
Today, the NBA views substance abuse and addiction as part of the bigger picture, offering players a multi-pronged attack focused on mental health. At a time when the United States is suffering from the fentanyl and opioid epidemic and other debilitating social issues, the NBA is working to educate its employees about the dangers of drug use and addiction, as well as focusing on other issues that can affect an individual’s mental state. With annual salaries rising above $60 million, there’s a lot to protect. In fact, the league has come a long way over the years. From players like DeMar DeRozan, who just wrote a book about his mental health journey, to Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood speaking out about his drug issues.
“Even now,” Richardson said, “it’s not like it was in the 1980s, when I was [playing]. Because there is fentanyl now. Now what they’re doing is mixing all the drugs with fentanyl, just a little bit – because fentanyl will kill you.
If fans were to take a quick look at the list of recent NBA suspensions, they wouldn’t find suspensions the league suffered decades ago. Instead, they will largely see more variation in court fights or clashes with referees (although there has still been some recent instances of substance abuse). Two individuals charged with continuing to improve the NBA from a social perspective include Jamila Wideman, a former WNBA player and current NBA senior vice president of player development, and Kensa Gunter, a psychologist and director of mental health for the NBA and WNBA (Kensa Gunter) Ph.D. Considering the external factors and demands of today’s players’ lives, from social media to gambling pressures, both do an excellent job, especially compared to Richardson’s era.
“The thing about alcohol and drugs,” Richardson said, “is they don’t discriminate.”
