Jason Richardson Has Productive All-Star Saturday
2/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State All-American Jason Richardson had a productive Saturday at the NBA All-Star weekend in Philadelphia. In the afternoon, Richardson was named MVP of The 'got milk?' Rookie Challenge. In 22 minutes of action, Richardson led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. He also added six rebounds. Richardson's efforts helped lead the first-year players to a 103-97 victory over the NBA sophomores.
On Saturday night, Richardson then won the NBA.com Slam Dunk presented by Real One. Competing in a field of four, Richardson defeated Seattle's Desmond Mason in the first round by a score of 98-84. Richardson's final dunk of the first round was the only dunk of the evening to receive a perfect score of 50. In the finals, Richardson faced Sacramento's Gerald Wallace. Entering his final dunk of the evening, Richardson needed a 45 to win. Beginning from the perimeter, Richardson tossed the ball into the air, raced toward the basket, leaped and caught the ball after it had bounced. He turned away from the rim and threw down a two-handed hammer windmill, completing a difficult dunk almost flawlessly. For his efforts, Richardson received a 49 from the judges to defeat Wallace, 85-50.
In his first season in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors, Richardson is currently averaging 11.3 points (third amond rookies), 4.0 rebounds (seventh among rookies), 2.9 assists (tied for third among rookies) and 1.23 steals (fourth among rookies) in 29.2 minutes (fourth among rookies). He is one of only two rookies in the NBA to rank in the top-10 among rookies in scoring, rebounding, assists, three-point percentage and steals.
