Everyone remembers Mitch Richmond as the "M" in Run TMC. Everyone also remembers Don Nelson traded him for Billy Owens in 1991. It was a trade that shocked the fans because it broke up the crowd favorite trio of Mitch, Tim Hardaway, and Chris Mullin. It also shocked the player involved, Mitch Richmond. Apparently the relationship between Nellie and Mitch suffered because of the trade but now that they're teaming up again, they've been able to reconcile their differences and work together again.
Richmond and Nelson didn't speak again until Nelson was the head coach of the New York Knicks during the 1995-96 season. They got a chance to talk during a pregame shootaround. It was then that Nelson explained the reason for his trading Richmond and admitted to Richmond that it was bad decision...
"Whatever happened, I always thought he was the best coach I ever had," Richmond said. "He was the coach that made me understand the NBA game and how to play it. He was a big part of a lot of my success and how I played the game. I started for him as a rookie, and the things that I learned through those three years, I took it to other teams. I took it and developed it into my makeup."
JRich and MRich? Student and teacher? Their games are similar yet very different. JRich has the athleticism but Mitch has the dead aim accuracy. Is Jason better than Mitch? If not, what does he have to do to get there?