Former Gators Guard Will Richard Nabs Major NBA Career First

A key member of the Florida Gators national championship team had a major milestone in the form of a career first

The former Florida Gators guard had a major career first for his NBA career | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

The Golden State Warriors rewarded former Florida Gators guard Will Richard on Wednesday with his first career start in Sacramento against the Kings, a start in which he handled very well. 

Richard poured in a team-high 30 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 35 minutes on the court. That is the first career 30-point outing for Richard in the NBA. 

First career 30-point game in Will Richard's first career start! 📽️ pic.twitter.com/bNilikHGZK

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 6, 2025

Primarily working off the ball with the Warriors against the Kings, Richard scored his points in a variety of ways. He threatened the Kings with backdoor cuts, moving around the perimeter without the ball and by getting to the free-throw line. 

Richard flashed a lot of promising things on the court in Wednesday's contest that were reminiscent of his time with Florida. His off-ball movement, effort on the glass and basketball IQ were all on full display in the contest, resulting in high praise from his head coach.

"He's shown he's an NBA player," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "The experience, the poise -- he doesn't turn it over, he makes the right play." 

"He's shown he's an NBA player. The experience, the poise—he doesn't turn it over, he makes the right play."

Steve Kerr on Will Richard pic.twitter.com/v90AErYZcA

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) November 6, 2025

These were the same things that he did on the court to help the Gators bring home their third national championship in program history back in April as well. 

On his way to earning Final Four All-Tournament Team honors, he scored a team-high 18 points against Houston in the championship. He also had eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block to go along with it.  

The Gators would have loved to have had him on the court on Monday in the loss to the Arizona Wildcats. However, Gators head coach Todd Golden shared before the season how proud he is to see Richard at the next level. 

“Yeah, obviously, we're forever grateful for what they did for our program, and it's the best-case scenario, because everybody won, right?” Golden said of Richard, Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin. “And these relationships, they all came in as unheralded draft prospects, and we won a national championship together, and all three of them got drafted, right? So it was great for everybody. They believed in us and what we were trying to build. We believed in them as people and players that they could execute and achieve what our goals were, and it worked out. And I'm just happy that they were rewarded by being drafted for what they were able to accomplish in our program.”