Michael Ray Richardson, the former NBA star who was suspended from the league multiple times for drugs, is back in the news, and it's because he has been suspended again. But not from the NBA, and not for drugs.
Richardson, now coaching the Albany Patroons of the CBA, was banished for the rest of the season yesterday after making several controversial comments about Jews. When asked by reporters about his contract situation, Richardson replied that he needn't worry, because he had retained "big-time Jew lawyers." then he said...
"Are you kidding me? They are. They've got the best security system in the world. Have you ever been to an airport in Tel Aviv? They're real crafty. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty."Yes, it was a dumb, dumb thing to say, and yes, he should be more media-savvy than to mouth off about that sort of thing to reporters. And no, he probably shouldn't have used the word "crafty."And he continued, "They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean?" he said. "Which I think is great. I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."
But come on- this is nowhere near Mel Gibson, Michael Richards, or Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway. After all, Richardson was praising Jewish people, both for their resourcefulness and military acumen. Clumsily and sort of offensively, yes, but praise is praise.
The biggest surprise of this whole story- the CBA still exists! I thought Isiah Thomas ran it into the ground. Though in that case, unlike with the Knicks, he wasn't given a promotion, an extension, and a raise for destroying the formerly valuable basketball property with which he was entrusted.