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Jase Richardson on joining his father Jason Richardson's former team: It's a blessing
Jase Richardson, who will No. 11, is thrilled to be with Orlando. “It was a surreal feeling,” he said of the moment he was drafted. “Being at home having all of my family, friends [and] close ones with me, it was really special. Having my name called and going to a team that my dad used to play for, it’s a blessing.”
“One, the young man that he is,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said about what stands out to him about Jase Richardson. “His toughness. His basketball IQ. He’s a guy that can knock down shots, not afraid of moments … His family history of who and what he comes from is such an important piece. Getting down here, getting him on the court, getting him around our guys, just getting ready to get to work, that’s going to be a big key piece for us for him,” Mosley added.
Jason Richardson on LeBron James skipping the Dunk Contest: It's a bit disappointing—back then, if you were a high flyer or a superstar, you did it
Are you disappointed that LeBron James never participated in the Slam Dunk Contest? Jason Richardson: I was a little bit because if you look back at the history of the Slam Dunk Contest even when I was kid, if you were a high flyer or if you were a superstar, you DID the Dunk Contest, you know? [Michael] Jordan did it. Dr. J did it. Dominique Wilkins did it. Some of the greatest jumpers in the history of the NBA have done it and you want a guy like LeBron to carry on that tradition of superstars doing the Dunk Contest because the Dunk Contest is what carried All-Star Weekend… until now. So it’s kind of disappointing that he never did one but I can understand why he didn’t but, as a fan of the Dunk Contest watching it since you were a kid you would want a guy like LeBron in the Dunk Contest.
Do you think social media has made people harder to impress when it comes to the Dunk Contest — almost like there’s a filter now where nothing feels new or exciting? And is there still a way to save it?” Jason Richardson: Yeah I think social media kind of does that. Because now no longer guys are doing these dunks and you can see people doing these dunks in camps and in the summertime; now you have competition of professional dunkers now and when you see some of these guys and some of things that they can do, it’s amazing and now you have an unrealistic expectation of wanting NBA players doing what those guys are doing and they’re training to do that. And so, in parts it hurts the Slam Dunk Contest in a sense that, Hey. Why isn’t Anthony Edwards in there taking it between his legs, 360 and then doing a tomahawk all at the same time? And people are like, Well… he can’t do that. And others will be like, Well, I saw a professional dunker do that. So I think it’s kind of hard because social media has almost kind of tainted us because we’ve seen so many guys that are doing so many spectacular dunks out there.
How much did you feel that people they felt counted you and your teammates out during the 2006-07 “We Believe” Golden State Warriors team run in the NBA Playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks? Jason Richardson: Aw man! We felt EVERY bit of that! Every bit of that, man! We had an UNBELIEVABLE fan base out there in Oakland. They were tired of losing; it was 13, 14 years without them going to the playoffs and they just had this energy about us that just… almost propelled us going into the playoffs, you know — making the playoffs first of all. And so, we understood that people counted us out. Everybody had something against them, you know? They were saying that Baron [Davis] was “injury prone”; Stack Jack (aka Stephen Jackson) was coming off the situation in Detroit with the ‘Malice in the Palace’; they had me as a good player that’s getting numbers on a bad team… There were just so many things that we had that we wanted to prove people wrong and I think we put all of that aside and we played for each other and the only thing that we wanted to do was like, Hey we gonna let you know that one: We’re a good team and we’re good players…
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With your son heading to the draft next week, how did you keep him grounded and focused on college basketball throughout the process? Jason Richardson: For him, he’s just a basketball purist where he watches a lot of basketball. He watched current games, he goes back and watches games from the 70’s-80’s; he go back and watch my era of basketball so, he’s a basketball purist and he understands it because he has such a high IQ so he really just focuses on what’s at task for him and that’s taking it one step at a time. For him, it’s always about playing the game he loves and it’s almost a pure thing when you watch him play because he plays with so much energy and he plays with so much pride and it’s those things that remind you as a kid when you watch him play like, Man! He really enjoys what he does!
Jason Richardson: And the thing about Gil—it wasn’t forced. Like, he really felt that way. It’s like, 'I’m going to say this'—no, Gil really thought that way. So when he did stuff, it wasn’t to get attention. It was just how he was thinking in the moment. Like when he said, 'I wanted to be a pimp,' and then he doubled down and said, 'I want to be an international pimp'— —and we’re at rookie transition program, bro. We all looking like, 'Yo… you really just said this?' Like, what are you saying? Right? You’re still trying to get your foot in the door. And he’s like, 'That’s crazy. I’m Agent Zero. I’m already in the door.'
Jason Richardson: "We were playing the Nuggets—it’s like two or three minutes into the game. Danny (Fortson) and George McCloud get into it. Boom. Me and Gilbert looking at each other like, 'Yo, what’s going on? This is two minutes into the game. How they already ready to fight?' Techs and everything." "Danny gets pulled out the game. He comes and sits right by me and Gilbert. Then he pulls a razor out of his sock. I’m like, 'Yo… I knew some sh*t was about to go down.' Me and Gilbert looking like, 'Yo… do we gotta protect ourselves right now?!' He had a razor blade in his sock, bro. I kid you not. That’s when I knew things were different back then."
Lottery pick candidate Jase Richardson declares for draft
Michigan State guard Jase Richardson, the son of former NBA slam dunk contest winner Jason Richardson, has declared for the NBA Draft, he announced in a post to his Instagram account Tuesday.
Jorge Sierra: Donovan Mitchell is now No. 40 all-time in three-pointers tied with Jason Richardson. Also: Jimmy Butler passed Dominique Wilkins in steals for No. 67 in NBA history.
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Jason Richardson: We had a guy on the team my first year in Phoenix, Lou Amundson. He used to ride a bike to practice every day because he lived right across from the arena. Every time he rode his bike, Shaq would take it and hide it. Somewhere in the arena. Every day after practice, Lou was on a scavenger hunt trying to find his bike. This went on for the entire season. Finally, toward the end of the season, Lou had enough. He said, “I’m done with this. Every practice, I spend 45 minutes to an hour trying to find my damn bike.” We tried to warn him. We said, “Yo, Lou, this is Shaq. I’ve heard the stories—doodoo surprise. He used to take a [expletive] in people’s magazines and shoes. This is Shaq you’re dealing with, bro. You might want to chill.”
Jason Richardson: Lou didn’t listen. He said, “Nah, I’m gonna do it.” So, he popcorned Shaq’s van—but not with buttery popcorn, the aluminum kind. Shaq saw it and said, “Oh, okay. This is a good prank, right? You don’t know who the [expletive] you messing with.” Now, fast forward to game day. I walk into the locker room, and Shaq is walking around naked like it’s nothing. But he’s walking real tight, real slow. I’m thinking, “What the [expletive] is going on?”
Jason Richardson: Then he pulls a mouthpiece out of his ass and puts it in Lou’s locker. He looks at us and says, “Y’all better not say [expletive].” Then, he grabs a toothbrush—Lou’s toothbrush—goes into the bathroom, and stirs it in his [expletive]. At this point, we’re like, “Man, we are NOT part of this. This is getting out of hand.” So, the game happens. Somehow, I’m on the bench, Matt Barnes is on the bench, Steve Nash is on the bench, Jared Dudley’s on the bench. Lou is in the game. And Lou puts the mouthpiece in his mouth. The entire bench loses it—EVERYBODY is dying. Lou comes back to the locker room, takes the mouthpiece out, and someone finally tells him, “Hey, Lou, don’t use your mouthpiece. Shaq put it in his ass.” Lou just goes, “Nah, he didn’t.” Then he puts it back in his mouth. The bench loses it AGAIN.
Jason Richardson: Later, when Lou finally gets subbed out, he comes to me and asks, “J-Rich, are they messing with me? What happened?” I told him straight up, “No [expletive], bro. Shaq put your mouthpiece in his ass.” Lou takes it out and just stares at it. Then Matt Barnes tells him, “Bro, anything in your locker room has probably been in Shaq’s ass. Throw it all away.” That’s just Shaq, man. He was a prankster, but he was the nastiest prankster. I swear, if that was me, it would’ve been a fight. Either I would’ve been the most hated person in the league for taking a lead pipe to Shaq’s knee, or I would’ve gotten my ass whooped. But no way I’d let that slide.
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