In the 1970’s and ‘80’s, cocaine nearly blew the NBA apart, no pun intended. Stars like David Thompson, John Drew, John Lucas and others simply couldn’t resist the drug after they developed a taste for it.
The NBA eventually developed a policy to deal with drug use but for a while, guys would use freely and only do rehab when required.
One of the most promising players of that era was Micheal Ray Richardson. A 6-5 guard out of the University of Montana, Richardson was the #4 pick in the 1978 draft.
He got off to a solid start in the league, playing for the New York Knicks.