Warriors News: Former Warrior Jason Richardson Retires

Drafted with the 5th overall pick in the 2001 Draft, Jason Richardson stepped in and started 75 games for Golden State. Best known for his thunderous slams, Richardson helped create a lot of Golden State Warriors fans.

Richardson hasn’t played for the Warriors since the end of the 2007 season. After 13 seasons in the NBA, Jason Richardson is retiring:

Today is a bitter sweet moment for me. I’m officially announcing my retirement from pro basketball. I like to thank the organizations and fans in Charlotte, Phoenix, Orlando, Philly and especially The Bay Area for their loyal support the past 14 years. Walking away was the hardest decision I had to make but choosing my health and spending time with my family is more important to me! God bless!

A photo posted by J-Rich (@richboyz23) on Sep 23, 2015 at 6:23pm PDT

Injuries have taken a toll on the veteran but he ultimately chose to walk away from this chapter of his life. With dreams and aspirations of more than just basketball, Richardson still has a lot to look forward to. From Marc. J Spears of Yahoo Sports:

“I didn’t want to limp the rest of my life,” Richardson told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview. “I still have my whole life in front of me, God willing. I sat alone at a park in Atlanta thinking and no one said anything to me because they didn’t recognize me since I just got there. I talked to my wife for an hour on the phone and then I sat for five hours thinking while listening to music before deciding that retiring was the right thing to do.”

In the 2005-06 season, Richardson averaged 23.2 points per game and was a huge piece of that “We Believe” Warriors team. The Slam Dunk Contest champion reigned in 2002 and 2003 and joined Michael Jordan as the only players to repeat (Nate Robinson joined that club too). In the Rookie Challenge game, he earned MVP honors as a rookie.