TORONTO – On the day Ray Williams passed away, was it karma or coincidence that Micheal Ray Richardson was on the Knicks’ scene Friday night at Air Canada Centre?
The Knicks drafted Williams with the 10th pick in 1977 to be Walt Frazier’s successor. Williams and backcourt mate Richardson were supposed to lead the Knicks back to the promised land.
Never worked out that way.
“I’m real sad,’’ Richardson told The Post Friday night while watching the Knicks beat the Raptors. “He and I were like brothers.’’
Williams died yesterday, after battling colon cancer, at Sloane Kettering Hospital at age 58. Richardson is living in Canada, coaching the nearby London Lightning of the NBL and had stopped by to visit his former teammates Mike Woodson and assistant Darrell Walker.
Richardson spoke to Williams for 45 minutes Monday. “We talked about the olden times, about how life isn’t fair but sometimes it’s what you do with it,’’ Richardson said.
“He was a tough defender, he could do it all,’’ Richardson added. “A big guy in the locker room. We all did think that (he’d be a superstar). Things happen. He was traded. I was traded. I got into something I shouldn’t have gotten into.’’