Richardson learned from offseason mess
David Steele <mailto:dsteele@sfchronicle.com>
Wednesday, November 5, 2003
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Opening night, Jason Richardson said, was the hardest. He did not
play in the Warriors' season opener at the Arena in Oakland a week
ago tonight.

Not that he was the only starter to miss it; Nick Van Exel didn't
play, either, but that was because of a bad knee. Troy Murphy sat it
out with a bad foot.

Richardson sat it out because of a bad criminal record.

"You see your teammates out there, you see the crowd, you see all
the action and energy from the first game,'' Richardson said Tuesday
afternoon. "And I was mad at myself knowing I made a mistake, but
knowing I won't make a mistake like that again. I can't do that to
my teammates again, put them in that position where they had to make
changes like that because of something stupid I did in the offseason.''

Richardson had just completed his last practice before his own
season opener, tonight at the Arena against the Hawks. He opens late
because the NBA suspended him for the first three games for that
"stupid'' thing: He got into a fight with his former girlfriend and
mother of his young daughter, shoved her so hard her head went
through the wall of her apartment, and was eventually convicted of
misdemeanor domestic assault.

Clearly, this was less than the ideal way for Richardson to prepare
for what was expected -- if not demanded by the Warriors -- to be a
breakout season. It wasn't on the Warriors' checklist, either. For
example, they did not sign Calbert Cheaney at age 32 to play 45, 48
and 47 minutes right out of the box.

That's what 22-year-old building blocks are supposed to do.

To Richardson's credit, while his case was playing out in Saginaw,
Mich. -- his hometown and the location the incident took place -- he
honed at least some of the rough spots off his game. He showed off
some of the improvements in the exhibition season: leaping off one
leg instead of gathering with both, going to his left, driving more
aggressively. Opening night against Dallas last week was to have
been the big coming-out party for the new and improved Jason.

Instead, the day before the game, he went to the practice facility
in downtown Oakland, worked out hard with the coaches and with Chris
Mullin -- and then went home, mandated not to return until Tuesday.
He watched the first three games at home (the last two on
back-to-back nights), feeling sick about what had transpired and how
it didn't have to happen.

Thanks to the NBA's policy of disciplining players convicted of
crimes (a critical distinction, by the way, as opposed to
suspensions routinely handed out by leagues and teams before due
process takes place), Richardson had known well in advance that his
"mistake'' was going to affect not only his ex- girlfriend, Roshonda
Jacqmain, and his own rap sheet, but also his teammates and
employers. Even before Gilbert Arenas left and Antawn Jamison was
traded, the Warriors had planned to feature him in their promotions
and marketing, the two-time dunk contest champ with potential that
was due to turn into production.

That player not only was messing up very publicly, he was going to
mess up the Warriors' plans to start the season fast. The level to
which the Warriors have been shorthanded so far has been almost
laughable, except that everyone on the roster is too tired to laugh.
Injuries, though, are part of the game. Richardson wishes it had
been that simple for him.

Before this goes any further, though, Richardson has made it clear
he's sorry about what he did last April, and that it all taught him
a painful but valuable lesson. Late last month, when the NBA
announced his suspension, he issued an apology through the league,
and on Tuesday he remained contrite, having felt the impact of three
games erased from his season and career on top of the year's
probation and fine he received in the Michigan courts.

"It was a learning process,'' he said. "It's something I have to
learn from, and I believe I have learned from it, but something I
have to grow from at the same time.''

So far, there are no signs anyone in the organization holds it
against him. Richardson had the option for next season picked up
over the summer, on schedule, illustrating the Warriors' commitment
to him. He likely will start tonight, but Eric Musselman, totally in
character, has guaranteed nothing in terms of playing time or future
starts beyond which he, or any other player, earned on the court. He
was effusive Tuesday in his praise of Cheaney's iron- man stint -- a
message Richardson must have heard and felt.

If there is anything positive to take from this, it's that it was
his first offense (hence the light sentence) and he's young enough
to nip that behavior, and anything like it, in the bud. That will be
proven over the course of his career, of course. Richardson's growth
on and off the court likely will follow a similar path.

"I have to move on with my life,'' he said. "All I have to do is
keep my head up high, start looking forward and go out and play.''

Starting tonight, a week late.

E-mail David Steele at dsteele@sfchronicle.com
<mailto:dsteele@sfchronicle.com>.

©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
<http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/info/copyright/> | Feedback
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Page C - 1


--
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Allen wrote:

[article snipped]


Why does someone have to "learn" not to push another person's head
through a wall?

--Robin

Robin Miller wrote:




Sarcastic reply: picky picky picky! ;-)

Serious reply: steroids or other such anabolic drugs which make guys too
aggressive??

--
remove the z to send me email

Allen wrote:



Well, to answer my own, largely rhetorical, question, because too many
men in this country treat women as their possessions. The same reeason
why domestic violence is such a problem. (An interesting question: How
does the rate of DV in this country compare with the rates in European
countries?)

--Robin

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