NBA All-Star Cried And Wanted To Retire After Being Traded To Losing Team

A six-time NBA All-Star admitted that he cried inside the locker room and asked his agent if he can retire after being traded to a losing team.

In the '90s, Golden State Warriors’ Run TMC was one of the most entertaining trios in the NBA. The group was consists of Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond. The most notable story about Run TMC was the fact that they managed to score 162 points in a regular-season game with no overtimes. However, then-Warriors head coach Don Nelson felt that the team should play a more conventional style of basketball after a devastating loss to the Los Angeles Lakers during the playoffs.

After the break-up, the man who suffered the most was Richmond. At the heat of the dismantling of Run TMC, Richmond had a feeling a trade might happen. Unfortunately, among the three, Richmond was the one who got traded. And when Nelson called him up for a conversation, Richmond only had one wish – to not be traded to the Sacramento Kings, Basketball Network reported.

“I know you’re trading me, but don’t tell me you’re trading me to the Sacramento Kings. He said, ‘I traded you to the Sacramento Kings.‘ That was one of the worst days of my life,” Richmond recalled.

Richmond said that Run TMC was the most fun he ever had in his NBA career. In fact, he lived near Hardaway’s and Mullin’s homes in Oakland, and they spent a lot of time together. But Richmond had to accept the fact he was no longer part of that.

The 14-year NBA veteran moved to the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings. At the time, the Kings were a terrible team and had been losing badly during the season. To make things worse, the very next day, the Kings were playing the Warriors at Golden State. All of a sudden, Richmond realized the fact the he was already playing for a different team and was broken as he entered the visiting team’s locker room.

“I walk in, and the first thing I hear from one of the players was ‘Welcome to hell.’ I’m just sitting there, have my clothes on, and Spud Webb comes down and sits next to me. Spudd whispers to me, ‘Man, I don’t wish this on nobody, but I’m glad that you’re here with me’,” Richmond said.

“I just start crying. I called my agent, a young player I didn’t even know the rules. I called him and asked ‘Is there any way I could retire?’,” Richmond continued.

Almost the same type of sadness was felt by present-day Warriors fans after the once indestructible team fell apart when Kevin Durant decided to leave the Dubs.