Mitch Richmond - the most forgotten SG of the 90s?
You mean Mitch Richmond who was part of the very famous Run TMC trio?
It does reinforce this post about him that Run TMC is easily his most famous incarnation but he spent only 3 seasons there and spent more than double that amount of time with the Kings.
Yeah consistently excellent but a HOFer that doesn’t get talked about much in this sub compared to other players of the era. People debate about the importance of rings but Mitch only played in one series as a main guy after leaving GS and as the #8 seed.
And who was inducted into the Hall of Fame only 12 years ago?
So we’ve confirmed that this title is 100% click bait
And the cover athlete for NBA Live 97?
Glen Rice so forgotten he didn’t even make the forgotten list
Rice had a higher profile than Richmond ever did. Dropped 56 in a nationally televised game in 1995, averaged 27 and finished 5th in MVP voting to lead a very good 54-win Hornets team in 1997 (and 27 ppg was a super-high number back then), won a title with the first Shaq-Kobe Lakers championship team in 2000 averaging 16 ppg as a solid third option (his health was severely declining by this point, as reflected by him averaging only 12 ppg the following season for the Knicks and not starting most of the games).
Rice had a higher profile than Richmond ever did.
Yes, in 1995. Forgotten refers to how they’re thought of today.
Favorite Mitch Richmond quote of all time, as told by Amin Elhassan:
“One time I interviewed Mitch Richmond, who was on that Laker team that won on of those titles in the 2000s. I said ‘Mitch, Phil Jackson liked to give out books to his guys to help them accept the role that they were going to be playing. What was the book that he gave you? Mitch said ‘Yeah, it was called ‘Sit Your Ass Over There and Never Play.’’”
Lmaoo, at least he got a ring. Good payout for someone who had to carry some sorry ass Wizards teams
Wiz fan here btw
He also was the last one to hold the ball in the last game of the finals. But Rick Fox stole the game ball afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SuoYRxXeNE
MJ always gave Mitch his props. He said he was the toughest shooting guard to defend.
Mitch was so much stronger physically than the likes of Reggie, Drexler and Starks. Probably the only guy at MJ’s position whose upper body was just as strong. And he played a much more similar game to Jordan than those other guys, with all of his pull-up mid-range Js and back-to-the-basket play.
John Starks mentioned! He’s one of my favorite growing up
Starks was that guy in NYC. He always played MJ tough for someone who was at a major size disadvantage.
Anyone who doesn’t remember Mitch never played NBA Jam
Run TMC is a thing for a reason
For two and a half seasons and how many playoff series wins? Worst NBA hot take I’ve seen in years.
Not by anyone old enough to have watched 90s basketball. He’s probably the 3rd or 4th 90s shooting guard I’d think of if asked to list them.
Now… Kendall Gill… there’s a pretty good 90s SG I’ve forgotten about from time to time.
Gill is a cool “remember that guy?” reference, but not really at Richmond’s level. Gill’s impact was more similar to another “remember that guy?” 90s SG, Rex Chapman.
Totally agree, but no one who was around for 90s basketball is forgetting anyone at or near Richmond’s level. Chapman’s a really good one. Another one… Hersey Hawkins!
Mitch was a dawg. He was a stout SG and could bully you. He dragged some pretty bad Kings teams to the playoffs.
And let’s not forget ..NBA Live ‘95. Absolutely dominated in that game.
NBA Jam too. His legacy would be more fondly remembered if he hadn’t been traded at 33 for Chris Webber at 25.
Solid as a Rock!
In the Air Bakin’s🥓
Forgotten is not a good choice of word. People who watched this era of the NBA remember him well.
I remember Mitch. He balled on GSW and SAC.
I just can’t understand how you can call a guy in the Hall of Fame “forgotten.” Anyone who lived through the ‘90s remembers him perfectly well.
There are plenty of guys in the HOF who are forgotten by most fans because enough time has passed.
Like how many people know about Hal Greer? He’s not only in the HOF, but also on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Makes you wonder, in 100 years, say, if the NBA is still around, who will fans remember? How many NFL or MLB players can fans name from the early 20th century? Wouldn’t surprise me if in 2126, the only player a typical NBA fan would know who played in the 20th century would be MJ.
Yeah, of course, but here we’re talking about a guy from the ’90s who didn’t retire until 2002.
And I’d hope anyone who considers themselves a pretty serious NBA fan at least knows the name Hal Greer. If we were talking about Vern Mikkelsen, fair enough, but Hall of Famers from the modern era feel like the bare minimum.
Mitch Richmond was a PROBLEM
I remember him so probably someone I forgot about
One of my faves growing up
Not forgotten at all. He was on Dream Team 3 AND an episode of Hang Time.
EMAW
Best player in the original NBA Jam
Mitch was a baaaad man. One of my favorites for sure.
The 90s might as well be ancient history to the nephews.
He was one of my favorite players to use on NBA Jam
He is pretty much first being mentioned when people talk about low bar of basketball HoF, so… he’s definietly not forgotten, even though it might not be exactly greatest reason for being remembered.
That always feels unfair to me. Dude was a 6x all-star, 5x all-nba, with phenomenal percentages. He helped establish the dynamic and efficient shooting guard archetype that Ray Allen perfected. Getting traded for young Chris Webber hurts him, and he deserves no blame at all for it.
forgotten hall of famer huh
It’s because he played for the Kings.
He didn’t do anyhting in the playoffs. It’s funny how we trash modern players like him but this guy gets glazed.
No what’s funny is how people dismiss really great athletes because of the simple fact that everyone can’t win a championship. Mitch Richmond was fucking awesome.
Only losers refer to simple appreciation as “glazing”. He deserves his flowers
It was lot harder to win one when the best players couldn’t just decide to all play for the same team.
Saying something like this makes me think you don’t understand the total lack of parity in the 90s.
When Mitch Richmond was at his peak, those Kings teams were BAD. He did actually drag them to the 8th seed in 96, and put up 37 against Seattle to steal a game off them( only to have a high ankle sprain in what was then a best of a 5 series).
Other than that he had 2 solid runs with Golden State as part of the Run TMC crew, but he was still kinda coming into his own at that point; just a rookie the first run, and in general he was not the threat from deep yet that he’d become. Or at least not allowed to be.
Besides that those GSW teams had no strong inside presence in a time when that was all but necessary - even Jordan never won without Horace or Rodman; or even Oakley, for that matter. Super fun to watch, but a notably flawed roster.
Anyway I’d say Mitch Richmond is one of the great tragedies of the era, if not just for exactly what you’re saying here - people will look back without context and think he sucked or something, when I would bet you most people who actually watched him back then would say he’s the 3rd
best 2 guard of the 90s, behind Jordan and Glide.
NBA fans only have smoke for young guys. If you played in the 90s it’s ok to not impact winning.
Brother when did I say that? You’re fighting a ghost here - I legit have no idea who you’re even referencing when you make this claim.
In the case of Mitch Richmond, it just requires understanding the context of the player and the era. Like we still think of Dame as a winner, right? Because we understand he was dragging subpar teams. Not too hard to understand how that concept might apply to a dude in the 90s to a further degree, when players were less free to go where they wanted when they wanted
Dame had way more success than this guy. Mitch did almost nothing.
Richmond was a walking bucket. Not everyone can be on a championship winning squad. Doesn’t make them trash.
He was walking bucket except when it came to winning games.