“Our success,” declared Walid Regragui, the head coach of Morocco, “is impossible without the joy of parents.” He was speaking during his country’s landmark triumph, the run to a semi-final at a World Cup, an adventure that began two years ago this month and left behind many vivid souvenirs, among them moments of family celebration.
Regragui’s mother was there at Qatar 2022, being sought out at the front of the crowd by her son after matches. Full-back Achraf Hakimi would run to his mum immediately after securing his team’s progress to the last eight against Spain. Footage of winger Soufiane Boufal dancing with his mother on the pitch after Morocco defeated Portugal became a lasting, viral memento of the tournament.
Clamber through the family trees of the Moroccans gearing up to maintain the Atlas Lions’ high status in the world game, and, among the proud parents, you’ll now find one who knows the highs and lows of elite sport unusually well.
He is the father of Amir Richardson, the young midfielder earmarked for a major role in Morocco’s next generation of World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations aspirants, on the crest of a wave with his club, Fiorentina and, for at least a few minutes every day, connected via FaceTime to his dad and mentor in Colorado, USA.
Dad is Michael Ray Richardson, who, for a generation of US and European basketball fans, is still a household name, a superstar of the NBA in the 1980s, later a pioneer for the growth of the sport in France and Italy, and, as he recounts with candour in an autobiography to be released later this month, a sportsman who did not always make the wisest judgements as a young man.
His book is called Banned: How I squandered an All-Star NBA career before finding my redemption; Michael ‘Sugar’ Ray Richardson was suspended from the NBA at the age of 30 for violating disciplinary rules, interrupting his peak career in his native USA and effectively sending him away from the headquarters of his sport and to Europe.
That’s where this unusual sporting dynasty took shape. While playing in Antibes, France, Michael Ray Richardson met Ilham Ngadi, a French-Moroccan, herself a talented sportswomen. They started a family, Amir the first of two children.
The genetic inheritance is plain in one very obvious respect: Amir has a basketball player’s height. He’s 1.97m tall. Growing up, he shared his father’s talent on the court and would enroll enthusiastically in summer basketball camps during school holidays in the US, to where his father returned to live while his children, Amir and Kimberly, continued their education in their native France.
They stayed close despite the geographical distance. “We’re in touch every day and he tries to come and see my games when he has the time,” reports Amir. Alas, Thursday’s father-to-son call carried disappointing news. Richardson junior had picked up a muscle injury training with Morocco ahead of the team’s trip to Gabon for Friday’s Afcon qualifier and, as a precaution, he has returned to Florence for medical assessment with his club.
The setback is not thought to be long-term, nor is it damaging to Morocco, who have already qualified, as hosts, for next year’s Afcon, and need not take risks with a valued player. Fiorentina are also eager to have Richardson recuperating there so he can continue to galvanise his club’s stunning upward momentum.
No team in Europe’s leading five leagues has been in better form over the past month than Fiorentina, on a run of six wins out of their last six Serie A matches. They sit third, a point behind leaders Napoli, in what is developing into a tight, compelling title race.
Fiorentina’s victorious sequence has in turn coincided with Richardson establishing himself in the side, following his summer move from Stade de Reims. From France to Tuscany – a mirror image of his father’s odyssey, in the late 1980s and early 90s around the professional basketball courts of southern Europe, where Michael Ray played for Livorno, among other clubs. More pertinently, Fiorentina was recommended to Amir Richardson by his Morocco teammate Sofyan Amrabat, totem of the 2022 World Cup campaign. Amrabat, now of Fenerbahce, spent three seasons in Florence before joining Manchester United last year.
For Morocco, Regragui sees a long-term future for Richardson in something like Amrabat’s role, industrious and tenacious in midfield, covering space off the ball but creative in his use of possession. He has watched the 22-year-old rise fast, taking giant strides in a short time.
Richardson made his debut in top division football, in France’s Ligue 1, only 15 months ago, having joined Reims from Ligue 2 Le Havre. Eligible to play internationally for France, where he was born, the USA, through his father, and Morocco, through his mother, he was capped by France under-20s six times before committing himself, last year, to Regragui’s project. He duly collected an under-23 Afcon title, won a place in the 2024 Afcon squad, and, in August, collected a bronze medal as key member of Morocco’s Olympic men’s team.
His father enjoyed that success, rekindling memories of his days starting out in his sport, when he trialled, aged 20, for the US team ahead of the 1976 Olympic Games. Micheal Ray did not make the cut, but would soon be advancing towards an elite NBA career. He was fourth pick in the 1978 NBA draft, joining the New York Knicks. At his peak, he would be likened to LA Lakers’ ‘Magic’ Johnson, a stellar contemporary and fellow point guard. “Some people called me the Magic of the East,” he recalls in his memoir.
The ban, the bad lifestyle choices in his 20s, meant ‘Sugar Ray’ would never attain Johnson’s stellar status in the sport, but the long zig-zag across various countries as a player and an extended career as a coach gave him important perspectives. His son, the emerging star of a very different ball sport, regards himself as a direct beneficiary of all that acquired wisdom.
“My father is my example,” Amir writes in ‘Banned’. “We share the same passion for high-level sports. We have the same mentality. And we maintain a strong bond. He’s an admirable person and a good man in everyday life. I’m proud of the sporting and human values he’s passed on to me.”
Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption, by Michael Ray Richardson (Skyhorse Publishing) is released on November 26.
