DALLAS _ As the evolution of Miami Heat forward and leading scorer Josh Richardson continues in his fourth season, he seeks the next step in preparing to be the focal point of opposing defenses' game plans.
He has steadily begun to show signs of the adjustment.
Entering Wednesday's game against the Dallas Mavericks, Richardson has shot 60 percent during the first four games of this five-game road trip _ and better yet, .542 on 3-pointers. Among those outings, his career-high 37 points and 8 for 11 on 3s Sunday against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors.
The stretch has snapped the 6-foot-6 Richardson out of a funk, where his shooting percentage was at .329 over the seven games prior and really dates back even further through much of December and January.
"Welcome to more responsibilities and teams preparing for you in a different way," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "It's not necessarily him being in his own head. He had more reads to make and more responsibilities than he had before, but he gobbles up information and gets better as he sees things over and over."
For the 25-year-old Richardson, he finds the development of his leadership skills to be key in that evolution, so that he can help fill that void once star guard Dwyane Wade and longtime Heat forward Udonis Haslem are gone.
"I think I've grown a lot and matured a lot, especially trying to be the leader of a team and trying to be one of the main focal points, but there's a lot of growth left," Richardson said. "I've always been led by example and not really like rah-rah, stuff like that. I've always been a guy that talks _ but individually, not in front of everybody and trying to call people out. This year, I've been trying to be a little more vocal."
Averaging 17.6 points per game and with Wade about to head to his 13th and final All-Star Game this weekend, Richardson said he'd like to one day become one, "but I really want to win a ring first," he said.
