He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a member of five All-NBA teams, and a former NBA Rookie of the Year. Richmond averaged 21.0 points per game and 3.5 assists per game in 976 NBA games. He died at age 44 on January 5, 2020.
Richmond's number 24 has been retired by both the San Antonio Spurs and the Charlotte Hornets.
He was born in Morristown, New Jersey on August 4, 1979. The youngest of three children, he played basketball from an early age. At 15 years old, he already stood 6'4" tall and weighed 170 pounds. After graduating high school, he went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played for the UNC Tar Heels basketball team. In 98 games over two seasons, he averaged 19.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.
After graduating from college, Richmond was selected first overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the 1998 NBA draft. He immediately made an impact on the league, becoming one of the top scorers in history. In his first season, he averaged 26.8 points per game, which is still a career high. The following year, he won the NBA Rookie of the Year award after scoring 27.1 points per game.
Richmond was a scoring monster, averaging over 21 points per game and winning MVP of the 1995 All-Star Game in Phoenix. During his heyday, Mitch Richmond was selected to the United States Olympic squad, often known as "Dream Team III," and won a gold medal, establishing himself as one of the NBA's top pure shooters. After his retirement in 2001, Richmond became an analyst for NBC Sports and has since become a popular basketball commentator.
Mitch Richmond played at Virginia Tech from 1983-87 before being drafted first overall by the Portland Trail Blazers. He spent seven seasons with Portland before moving to the San Antonio Spurs where he finished his career. In 2002, Richmond returned home to Virginia where he currently resides with his family.
During his time at Virginia Tech, Richmond set school records for points scored (2,510) and free throws made (988). He also led the Hokies to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1986, when they lost to Louisville in the first round. That year, Richmond was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team.
After graduating from Virginia Tech, Richmond was chosen by the Portland Trail Blazers with whom he had already been playing during his suspension. The Trail Blazers owned the first pick in the 1987 NBA Draft and chose him believing that he would help them replace Bill Walton who had just been traded to the Boston Celtics.
He also helped the squad win the NBA championship two years in a row, in 2017 and 2018, over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also thrived in the NBA, averaging 30.1 points per game and connecting on 402 three-point attempts. (Do you know how many games there are in the NBA regular season?) The Golden State Warriors have been one of the most popular teams in America for several years now, due to their incredible success on the court and their charismatic leader, Stephen Curry.
Curry first signed with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2008, when he only played 3 games before being traded to the Golden State Warriors. In those 3 games he averaged 29.7 points per game.
He stayed with the Warriors for four seasons, during which time they won two championships. In 2016, he led them to their second title in three years, after losing to LeBron James' Cavs in 2015. In 2017, he helped them win their third championship in four years, this time beating the Cavs in 6 games.
After four successful years with the Warriors, during which time he was unanimously chosen as MVP of the league, Curry joined the Washington Wizards in 2019. He had previously played here during the 2007-08 season, when he spent half of it with the Sonics and half with the Warriors. In 7 games for the Sonics, he averaged 14.3 points per game, while in 31 games for the Warriors, he averaged 28.5 points per game.
Worthy appeared in 926 regular-season games for the NBA, averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and three assists per game. He appeared in 143 postseason games, averaging 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and a 54.4 field goal percentage. He averaged 22.2 points per game on 53% shooting in 34 NBA Finals appearances. Worthy was a four-time All-Star and two-time champion.
Worthy played college basketball and football at USC. As a freshman, he started all 33 games for the USC Trojans men's basketball team and led them to the 1982 National Championship game where they lost to Indiana University by one point under coach Bobby Knight. Worthy also earned first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association as a freshman.
After graduating from USC with a bachelor's degree in sociology, Worthy was selected third overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1983 NBA Draft. He immediately became one of the best power forwards in NBA history and helped the Warriors win two NBA championships during his ten seasons with the team. Worthy was named an All-Star five times and was voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Worthy played his first game for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1989-90 season and ended up playing nine seasons with them, helping them reach the playoffs six times. In 1995, he signed as a free agent with the Toronto Raptors where he finished his career after one season.
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