If you ever flipped on an NBA game in the early ’80s, you noticed him before the broadcaster even said his name. Micheal “Sugar” Ray Richardson, yes, spelled Micheal, though many outlets still write Michael was the slick 6’5″ guard who played like the game lived inside his bloodstream. He led the league in steals three times, assists once, made four All-Star teams, and had Manhattan eating out of the palm of his hand.

But Sugar’s story isn’t just about dazzling crossovers or no-look passes. His prime collided directly with the NBA’s cocaine problem and the league’s then-new zero-tolerance drug policy. He went from Madison Square Garden hero to the first active player ever banned for life. Then, in one of those plot twists real life saves for people who refuse to be flattened, he rebuilt h

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