76ers' Josh Richardson Steps up to Brett Brown's Challenge

When you think of the Philadelphia 76ers' starting lineup, three players immediately come to mind. The two All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, along with the borderline star, Tobias Harris. And because of a recent emergence, Shake Milton has been the talk of the town also, leaving veteran shooting guard Josh Richardson as the often forgotten one within the Sixers' starting lineup.

The former Miami Heat guard came to Philly as the acquisition for former Sixers guard, Jimmy Butler. When Richardson arrived on the Sixers, the team was excited to get a young player on a favorable contract, who can contribute on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Richardson brings high energy, which helps set the tone for a team that preaches bully ball more than anything. Offensively, the veteran guard has been inconsistent throughout the year, however. There were times Richardson exploded, looking like the best shooter on the floor. Other times he was non-existent.

The latter best describes Richardson's first game down in the Orlando bubble against the Indiana Pacers. Aside from Embiid, Simmons, and Harris, everybody on the Sixers hardly contributed to scoring against Indiana last Saturday, including Richardson, who took just four shots in nearly 30 minutes of action.

The following day, Sixers head coach Brett Brown mentioned he would like Richardson to create more for himself on the offense, as draining just four points while in the starting lineup isn't exactly an ideal statistic for a shooting guard. "I'm always challenging him to put his own thumbprint on the game and take what the game gives you," Brown said on Sunday before the Sixers returned to practice.

"If you look at the Clippers game [back in February] where he effectively won us the game, I didn't call one play for him," Brown claimed. "That is a mindset more than anything. That's my message, my challenge, and admittance. He's good people, a great teammate, and we need his heart right where it needs to be."

On Monday night, Richardson had a shot at redemption against the San Antonio Spurs. Right off the bat, the veteran guard was establishing a groove on offense as he notched ten points in the first quarter by being aggressive and getting to the free-throw line. He didn't explode on offense, but Richardson stepped up and accepted Brown's challenge by collecting 19 points in the win over the Spurs.

Overall, Richardson's field goal percentage wasn't pretty as he knocked down just 33-percent of his shots. Despite the low-percentage shooting, Richardson at least found a way to get off 15 shots in an offense that's simply not tailored towards him. At least Richardson was willing to take the initiative and accept his head coach's challenge in the next game. The effort is there -- now the Sixers will hope to see him work on shooting more efficiently moving forward.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_