Micheal Ray Richardson Listens to a Lot of Jim Jones

One possible answer: he was seduced by the alternate reality of the Diplomats.

In a move that I can only imagine will fuel about 20 new YouTube videos shot somewhere in the Harlem streets at hours well past my bedtime and 30 new mixtape tracks with Jim Jones's unique brand of charming ignorance, basketball cult figure and erstwhile (he's suspended) CBA coach Micheal Ray Richardson said the following about his ongoing contract negotiations with the Albany Patroons:

"I've got big-time lawyers. I've got big-time Jew lawyers."

And then he said this, in response to a reporter informing him that his comments could be construed as antisemitic because of stereotypes about Jews being crafty:

"Are you kidding me? They are. They've got the best security system in the world. Have you ever been to an airport in Tel Aviv? They're real crafty. Listen, they are hated all over the world, so they've got to be crafty...They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great. I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."

You'll remember, of course, that Jim Jones and the Dip Set have been saying the same things for years--check the tape(s). They're always rapping about Jewish lawyers, and paid lawyers, and kosher lawyers. We've talked about this. Throw in Mos Def's insistence that Tall Israelis are runnin' this rap shit, and you've got quite the 3-on-3 team. They'd own the Rucker crowd.

As noted on Free Darko, Micheal Ray seems to be more along the lines of the funny antisemite rather than the dangerous antisemite. Amidst all the stupidity in the world, sometimes you just have to laugh. And really, I think he was trying to be nice in a weird way. I probably shouldn't write that, but the guy didn't say he hated all Jews or wished that they'd go back to making bricks in Egypt. It wasn't a message of intolerance. He said Jewish people are crafty (which, we can all agree, is dumb and negative and not well thought out) and then cited what he thought was proof of it. I mean, does anyone think he was being purposely malicious? I think he was being dumb. And there are, in fact, a disproportionately large number of Jewish men who own teams or run leagues.

I also read on FD that Micheal Ray claims to have been married to a Jewish woman. This prompts a lot of important questions: Did he get hoisted up in a chair by his wedding guests? Did he break a glass? Did he say something like "Are you kidding me? Of course we had a free kiddish. My wife's family is crafty, and they're surrounded by moneeeeey"? It makes you wonder. Hopefully he invited Jim and Cam and Juelz and Zeek.

One final note: I find this "controversy" seasonally appropriate because last year at this time, we had to investigate if Jim Nantz was Jewish.