Former NBA star and Charles Barkley‘s teammate Richard Dumas recently spoke in detail about his NBA career, in an interview with Vlad TV. Dumas joined the Phoenix Suns in 1992 and was banned a total of three times in his career. He claimed that he had a mental condition that served as a huge impediment to his ability to play basketball.
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Talking about his pre-game routine, the 54-year-old explained that he used to drink a lot of alcohol before every game. “I suffer from a mental illness where I can’t deal with crowds and stuff like that. They got me on medication now but they didn’t have medication and stuff back then. So I couldn’t deal with all that stuff. A lot of people didn’t know I had a six-pack before every game,” he said, before going on to explain how the issue affected his game.
Dumas said that he had no choice but to consume some substance to calm down and play basketball.
“With my imbalance I found out I needed something to calm me down because what I suffered from, I didn’t like loud noises, didn’t like bright lights, I didn’t like crowds, those things irritate me,” he said, before claiming that the alcohol allowed him to keep the distractions out ‘of mind.”
Dumas went on to reveal the habit in itself was not something he had picked up during his NBA career. Rather, it was something that he had been doing since he was 15 years old, whenever he played basketball!
Richard Dumas had a promising career that he lost due to drug abuse
While Dumas explained how he struggled to cope with his mental health, he was a promising talent when he first started. Dumas was the 46th overall pick of the 1991 NBA draft, selected by the Phoenix Suns. However, he was suspended before he could make his debut and returned to the NBA after a stint in Israel.
Dumas was suspended thrice throughout his career for cocaine use and ended up retiring at the age of just 26. He averaged 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in his 102 NBA appearances and was part of the All-Rookie second team in 1991, according to Complex. Hence, while Dumas was talented enough to play in the NBA alongside Charles Barkley, he could not fulfill his potential.
That, of course, was despite the toll, consistent alcohol and drug use had on his body, something which was quite common in the NBA, back in the 1980s and the 90s. However, Dumas was unique in the sense that he turned to drugs simply because he needed to distract himself and move past his health issues.
