NBA Great Mitch Richmond Says Trade From Golden State To Sacramento Was "Devastating"

Shandel Richardson | Aug 1, 2024

March 19, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors former players Mitch Richmond , Chris Mullin and Tim Hardaway smile for the media before Mullin's #17 jersey is retired before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden State Warriors had a dominant trio years before Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

In the early 1990s, they were led by Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond. They were known as "Run TMC," a play on the first letters of their name with a hip-hop group twist. Those Warriors could score. A lot.

For two seasons, they were the NBA's most exciting team. Then they lost a key cog when Richmond was traded to the Sacramento Kings early in the 1991 season.

"I think we could've been really good," Richmond said in an interview with Back In The Day Hoops On SI. "I think you can look at the Curry and the Klay Thompson years where they kept that unit together ... They built around it. I think if we would've had that opportunity as well, we could've done some amazing things. I don't know if we would've won the championship but I didn't feel we were that far off." 

Richmond averaged at least 20 points his first three seasons, including winning the Rookie of the Year award in 1989. He felt he proved he was worth a bigger contract.

"That was the time where Don Nelson was the general manager and the coach and I think I had one more year left on my deal," Richmond said. "Nellie wanted me to sign early but I felt like the number wasn't right. I just told him, `I love being here but I want to show you that I deserve more than what you're offering."'

Nelson, obviously, felt otherwise. The Warriors received first-round draft pick Billy Owens in exchange. Owens averaged 14 points in three seasons for Golden State, but there wasn't much team success. Richmond made the most of it by using his time in Sacramento to build a Hall of Fame career.

He was never a fan of the move.

"With him [Nelson] being the general manager and having a couple drinks every once in a while, I think that the powers to be felt like he [could] make a move," Richmond said. "I definitely didn't like it. It was heartbreaking. It was devastating to me because I never thought that I would be traded at that particular time. I was a young kid." 

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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