Why . . . Mitch Richmond is a Hall of Famer

Being the obvious and only choice for the completely imaginary "Best Shooting Guard of the 1990's" award, Michael Jordan and his exploits have, for obvious reasons, dwarfed the accomplishments of some of the other greats who played the position during that decade. Indeed, despite Clyde Drexler's all-around brillance, Reggie Miller's playoff heroics, and Joe Dumars' cerebral play, Jordan's singular dominance has almost rendered the debate over who was the second-best two-guard of that era immaterial; what, after all, would be the point of arguing who was the next best after Leviathan?

At least, however, Drexler, Dumars, and Miller have received proper recognition for their otherwise oustanding careers. The former two have already been honored by the Hall of Fame, and the latter will undoubtedly be enshrined on the first ballot. The same cannot be said for Mitch Richmond, whose career has essentially been forgotten by fans and journalists alike. We all remember Drexler's spectacular dunks and layups, and Miller's game-winning shots, and Dumars' lockdown defense, but few recall the Rock's steadfast play during the entirety of the 1990's on a series of execrable, pre-Chris Webber Kings' squads.

Indeed, the biggest knock on Richmond's career is that he played for bad-to-mediocre teams for the majority of his time in the league. And this is inarguable; he appeared in the postseason only four times and played in a grand total of twenty-three playoff games (though he did win a ring as a bench-warmer for the Lakers in '02). At the same time, Richmond continuously earned the respect of his peers during his playing days, and was regarded by one guy in particular to be one of the most underrated players in the league (fast-forward to the 43-second mark):



The praise Richmond received was mirrored by the accolades he garnered: he was selected to five All-NBA teams (3x Second Team, 2x Third Team), six All-Star Games, won the All-Star Game MVP in 1995, and was Rookie of the Year in 1989. His resume compares favorably to that of Hall-of-Famer Dave Bing (3x All-NBA, 7x All-Star, '76 ASG MVP, '67 ROY, 31 total playoff games) and Miller (3x All-NBA, 5x All-Star, 144 playoff games with better teams), and his career point total (20,497) is good for 34th all-time (25th all-time at the time of his retirement in 2002). Indeed, so prolific was he that he finished the 1990's as the fifth-leading scorer of the decade (ahead of Hakeem Olajuwon, Miller, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippen), and the second-leading scorer among guards (behind only Jordan).

If he had never been traded by the Warriors, or if he had been dealt to the Knicks, Jazz, or another contender seeking a shooting-guard to counter MJ in the late 90's, we'd undoubtedly remember Mitch Richmond as one of the better players of his generation. Though he never enjoyed the postseason success that Drexler, Miller, or Dumars did, his numbers and acclaim are proof that his lack of team success was not the result of substandard play or poor leadership, but rather of misfortune and poor managerial decisions.

Seriously, you know a guy's been screwed over when he's forced to spend his prime years relying upon Brian Grant and Lionel Simmons for support.