Sincere thanks to Dan Corbin, who forwarded the following item from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle’s Jeff DiVeronica. Otherwise, I don’t think I’d be aware that Michael Ray Richardson was currently coaching Oliver Miller in the Premier Basketball League playoffs. Heck, I don’t think I’d even know there was such a thing as the the Premier Basketball League.
Oliver Miller, the former NBA player who went into the stands and nose to nose with a fan in Thursday night™s game against the Rochester Razorsharks at Blue Cross Arena, has been suspended by the Premier Basketball League for the rest of its championship series.
Miller, 40, plays for the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry, a squad from Oklahoma that lost 110-106 in overtime in Game 1 to defending league champion Rochester. The ejection of Cavalry coach Micheal Ray Richardson ignited the incident with 2.8 seconds remaining last night. Richardson claimed he was hit in the head by a plastic water bottle thrown by a fan.
Richardson, 54, was fined an undisclosed amount for œabusive and vulgar language, according to the PBL, and œnot leaving the court in a timely manner after his second technical foul, which results in an automatic ejection.
Miller played parts of nine seasons (493 games) with seven different teams after starring at the University of Arkansas. He stands 6-feet-9 and once reportedly weighed 350 pounds. His height and weight are not listed on the PBL™s website.
Sadly, the above incident is not the first time in recent years that Richardson —banned for life from the NBA in 1986 — has found himself in the middle of a public dispute with minor league basketball fans. Also, if you watch the above video clip (choose the top left hand corner option), you’ll note Miller is incapable of knocking over an unruly fan, despite what appears to be a considerable height and weight advantage.