Jerome "Pooh" Richardson Jr. (born May 14, 1966) is an American former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played 10 seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He was selected in the first round of the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn K ...

by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, the first draft pick in franchise history. He would also play for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

and

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

during his 10-year NBA career from 1989 to 1999. Richardson played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

from 1985 to 1989. A three-time first-team all-conference selection in the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

(now the Pac-12), he set school career records for assists and

three-point field goal percentage A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, i ...

. His nickname came from his grandmother, who thought he resembled

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

Early life

Richardson grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and played basketball in the Sonny Hill League. He was a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

while playing at Ben Franklin High School. He led Ben Franklin to the Public League championship in 1984. The ''

Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'' called Richardson "a basketball legend in hiladelphia"

College

Recruited by head coach

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

to play at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, Richardson was a four-year starter for the Bruins from 1985 through 1989. In his freshman year in 1985–86, he was honored as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year as well as team's most valuable freshman player and outstanding defensive player. Finney 2010, p.111 The following season, he was named first-team All-Pac-10. Finney 2010, p.105 In his junior year, he was named the team's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) Finney 2010, p.110 In Richardson's senior year in 1988–89, he was the team's MVP for the second consecutive year, first-team All-Pac-10 for the third year in a row, and the Bruins' outstanding defensive player for the second time in his career. Richardson finished his career with UCLA records for most assists in a career (833), most assists in a season (236), and highest career

(46.4).

Professional playing career

The

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

was taken by the

with the tenth overall pick of the

out of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He was their first ever draft choice and played with them for their first three seasons. During the 1992 offseason, he was traded along with Sam Mitchell to the

in exchange for

Chuck Person Chuck Connors Person (born June 28, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. Person played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was the 1987 NBA Rookie of the Year. Person played college basketball at Aubu ...

and

Micheal Williams Micheal Douglas Williams (born July 23, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player turned businessman that played the point guard position in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He holds the NBA record for most consecutive ...

. In 1994, the Pacers dealt him to the

along with

Malik Sealy Malik Sealy (February 1, 1970 – May 20, 2000) was an American professional basketball player, active from 1992 until his death in an automobile accident at the age of 30. Sealy played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

and 1994 draft pick

Eric Piatkowski Eric Todd Piatkowski (; born September 30, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball, Nebraska Cornhuskers. ...

in exchange for Mark Jackson and the draft rights to

Greg Minor Greg Magado Minor (born September 18, 1971) is an American basketball coach and a former National Basketball Association player who spent five seasons with the Boston Celtics. Born in Sandersville, Georgia he played basketball for Washington Coun ...

. After he retired from playing in the NBA, Richardson played a year in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

at the request of

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

, who were co-owners of the team.

Coaching career

Richardson became an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) coach in

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

, California, where he purchased a home during his time with Minnesota. In 2017, he became an assistant coach at the

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is federa ...

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Pooh 1966 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Indiana Pacers players Junior college men's basketball coaches in the United States Los Angeles Clippers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Point guards Sportspeople from Philadelphia UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople