ORLANDO, Fla. — The Magic selected Jase Richardson with the 25th pick in the NBA Draft after he spent one season at Michigan State.
“It’s surreal, honestly. Going through the whole predraft process, then going through the draft, Summer League and then getting to my first media day. Kind of felt like time hasn’t slowed down for me right now.
The Magic chose Jase Richardson with the 25th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft
He spent just one season at Michigan State University, where he averaged 12.1 points per game
Jase’s father, Jason Richardson, spent parts of two seasons, 2010-2012, with the Magic
He grew up around the NBA. His father, Jason Richardson, played in the league for 13 seasons — including with Orlando in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, when Jase was 5-6 years old.
Now Jase is trying to make a name for himself.
“Being a rookie, you’ve got to come in. You’ve got to work. You’ve got to show that you can defend. You can’t mess up the plays. Being a rookie but also trying to attack it as being a vet,” Jase said.
He has played in six of Orlando’s eight games so far this season, averaging 0.5 point and 0.8 assist in 4.7 minutes per game.
Richardson was a late riser during the NBA Draft process. He goes back to one particular conversation he had with his college head coach, Tom Izzo.
“Coach kind of just talked to me, and he was like, ‘You’ve got to go.’ We had an exit meeting that was about 5-10 minutes. And the first words were, ‘You’ve got to go. You’ve got to go try to put your name in the draft,” Richardson said.
Now he’s looking to make an impact on a team that is trying to work in four new players and has high expectations.
“Every single one of these guys has kind of been like a big brother to me so far. Just being around this team, it’s going to be a fun team this year,” Richardson said.