Micheal
Ray Richardson, coach of the Albany Patroons of the
Continental Basketball Assn. and a former NBA player, has
been suspended for comments that insulted Jews and gays.
"Shut the **** up, you faggot," Richardson shouted to a
heckler Tuesday during a game, the
Albany Times Union reported. He also yelled at
another fan to "shut the **** up." As for what he said about
Jews, you have to read the account in the Times Union to get
the true flavor:
"I've got big-time lawyers," Richardson said when discussing
his contract negotiations. "I've got big-time Jew lawyers."
When told, however, that such an offhand remark might offend
people because it plays to the stereotype that Jews are
crafty and shrewd, Richardson replied: "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."
Why are they hated? he was asked.
"They know that in this country the Jews are running it if
you really think about it," Richardson said. "I mean, which
is not a bad thing, you know what I mean?"
"How are they running it?" he was asked.
"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."
After his remarks became public, Richardson was suspended
for the rest of the CBA championship series, and the league
said it will conduct an investigation. "We will not tolerate
and the league will not tolerate bigots to perform in our
league," Patroons owner Ben Fernandez said.
When
Patroons general manager Jim Coyne heard about the comments,
they were not enough to make him want to talk to Richardson
about his conduct, Times Union columnist Brian Ettkin
reported. "He's an adult and he should know better,"
Coyne told Ettkin. "He knows if he's acting appropriately or
inappropriately." Apparently, the CBA saw things
differently.
Richardson was surprised by the suspension and issued a
non-apology apology. "It's terrible and I don't think it's
fair," Richardson said. "But I want to make an apology if I
offended anyone because that's not me."
Richardson had been an NBA star before being suspended in
1986 for drug use. He then played in Europe for 14 years
before coming back to the U.S. and the CBA.
Richardson is the second CBA official and former NBA player
to be suspended for comments in a month that dealt with
gays. Tim Hardaway, the former Miami Heat star, was relieved
of his duties for the expansion Miami franchise after
saying, "I hate gay people." Hardaway
was reacting to the public coming out of former
player John Amaechi.
Micheal
Ray Richardson, coach of the Albany Patroons of the
Continental Basketball Assn. and a former NBA player, has
been suspended for comments that insulted Jews and gays.