Josh Richardson has a pretty good idea
where he would be right now if he wasn’t knocking down three-point shots or
dunking on people for the Miami Heat.
“I’d probably
still be in college — probably until I was like 30,” the 22-year-old Eastern
Conference Rookie of the Month for March said. “I was a kinesiology major at
Tennessee. That’s the scientific study of human movement. I wanted to be a
surgeon. I was working on cadavers, doing labs studying hearts and brains. I
loved that stuff.”
Then
Richardson paused and smiled and said, “but this is a lot better.”
Second-round
picks who go down to the NBA’s Development League rarely make their way back up
and into the rotation of an NBA playoff team. Richardson might be among the
even smaller group who kind of shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal.
He does the
same when you tell him he posted the second-best three-point shooting month
(.589) in NBA history last month or that Hall of Fame-bound center Shaquille
O’Neal nicknamed him BRA (Baby Ray Allen) on TV last week.
All of that
for Richardson “is cool,” but he says he “can’t really think about it too
much.” To accept the adulation is almost to admit that he’s satisfied. His bar
is always set higher, and it’s everybody else’s prerogative to be surprised
with what he has accomplished thus far.
“You’ve got
to understand we’ve watched him for years,” his mother, Alice, a retired
lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force, former high school basketball referee and
an active ordained Baptist minister said by phone.
“We’ve
traveled with him all over this country watching him play. So, I guess since we
have seen the progression, it’s not a complete surprise. I’m just very proud of
him, of all the hard work he has put in, in order to be where he is.”
Said Josh’s
father, Michael: “From the beginning we didn’t pray for him to get drafted in
the first round or No. 1 or anything like that. We just prayed for the right
fit, right place and the right home and we felt like he got that.”
The hard work
started early for Richardson. Before he dribbled a basketball or his
grandmother taught him how to play the piano, Michael, a retired firefighter
who still refurbishes homes, put a hammer in his son’s young hands and put him
to work.
“It was
important for me to teach him that tools weren’t toys,” Michael said. “So, he
helped build a storage unit when he was like 4 or 5.”
Josh said he
graduated to power tools when he was about 9 or 10. Whenever his father would
take on a project to refurbish a home, Josh said he would come along and help.
All throughout elementary, middle and high school, Josh spent time with his
father tearing out cabinets, installing floors, showers, bathrooms and new
kitchens.
Now,
somewhere back home in Edmond, Oklahoma, where Josh was born and raised, Alice
said Josh’s 3-year-old nephew owns the same “itty-bitty” orange Home Depot
apron Michael gave Josh nearly two decades ago.
“We just
wanted to instill a strong work ethic in him,” Michael said of Josh. “We wanted
to make sure that he had a broad understanding of many different things and was
not afraid of any kind of challenge.”
That’s
something that spilled over onto the basketball court for Richardson.
After moving
from the wing to point guard his senior season at Tennessee, the Heat drafted
Richardson with the idea he would become a combo guard. But after injuries to
starting point guard Goran Dragic in January and then a season-ending injury to
backup Beno Udrih in February, Richardson was thrust into point-guard duty.
At first it
was a struggle. But Dragic, who has been helping Richardson adapt to playing
the point, said Richardson has done a much better job since the All-Star break
of setting up the Heat’s offense as his new backup. All the while, Richardson
also has gained the confidence from his teammates to take the three-point shot
when it’s there. Sometimes, Dwyane Wade said, the Heat trusts Richardson to
make them even when he isn’t open.
“He’s not
scared and that’s an important thing,” Dragic said. “Sometimes as a rookie you
don’t find the game right away, but he figured that out pretty quickly. He’s
just going to get much better.”
Although he’s
still backing up at point guard, Richardson (6-6, 200) could end up playing the
point, shooting guard or small forward down the road. Asked what position he
fits best, Richardson said he sees himself simply as “a basketball player.”
The Miami Heat finish their last game
at home with a win on Sunday. After losing to the same Orlando Magic team by
three on Friday the Heat convincingly beat what everybody knew to be a much
less talented team 118-96. After the win, the Heat now find themselves at
47-33 battling for playoff position
between the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks. Miami is currently the fifth
seed, but is tied with Boston and only a game behind Atlanta. 
