Michael ""Sugar"" Ray Richardsonis a former NBA player for the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. A former All-Star, he is (in)famously known as being the first basketball player to be banned for life from the league for numerous substance abuse violations. Though he was reinstated two years later, Richardson would go on to have a stellar career overseas, playing in such countries as Italy, Croatia, and France. Currently residing in Oklahoma, Richardson now hosts youth basketball programs with former teammate and longtime friend Otis Birdsong. Jake Uitti'swork has appeared in Vanity Fair, the Guardian, Interview, the Nation, the Athletic, and numerous otherpublications. A Seattle-based writer, Jake has loved and followed the NBA since the early 1990s. Once humorously dubbed ""the best under six-foot center in the country,"" his playing career didn't last past his high school days, but that's when writing took over. The co-author ofMuggsyand Earl the Twirl,Banned is his third NBA memoir. Uitti resides in Seattle, Washington, with his beautiful and brilliant wife Eva.
Praise for Michael Ray Richardson and Banned “Michael Ray Richardson deserves to have his flowers as one of the great guards to ever play in the NBA. That’s what George Gervin says about it.” —George Gervin, NBA Top 75 player “Pressure makes pipes explode. But pressure also makes diamonds. And Michael Ray Richardson is a diamond.” —Nancy Lieberman, Basketball Hall of Famer “He was like a Magic Johnson but with a better outside shot.” —Spencer Haywood, Basketball Hall of Famer “Michael was just a hell of a player, in the NBA and in Italy. He had the best hands, getting all these steals. Defensively, he was just awesome.” —Bob McAdoo, NBA Top 75 player “Michael was fearless. He would go into the other team’s locker room before the game. No lie. Whether it was Magic Johnson, whether it was Isiah Thomas, he’d go into the locker room and tell them, ‘I’m going to bust your ass tonight!’” —Otis Birdsong, four-time NBA All-Star “Intimidation is part of being a successful basketball player and Sugar was the best.” —Michael Cooper, Basketball Hall of Famer “What I remember most about Sugar Ray is that the level of trash-talking between him, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale always elevated the competition.” —Robert Parish, NBA Top 75 player “A great player and a good man!” —Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, NBA icon “Michael Ray Richardson captured my imagination as a young person. He was ahead of his time on the court and his story demands to be heard. It’s not a happy story, in the traditional sense, but it contains the joy of someone who found himself when others believed him to be lost.” —Dave Zirin, sports editor, The Nation