Last Updated on April 22, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Here’s detailed information about Ricky Pierce:

  • Full Name: Ricky Pierce
  • Nickname: “Big Paper Daddy”
  • Nationality: American
  • Date of Birth: October 19, 1959
  • Hometown: Dallas, Texas, USA
  • Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
  • Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)
  • Wingspan: N/A
  • Shoe Size: N/A
  • Jersey Number (College and NBA):
    • #21 — Rice Owls men’s basketball
    • #22 — Milwaukee Bucks
    • #22 — Seattle SuperSonics
    • #22 — Golden State Warriors
    • #22 — Los Angeles Clippers
  • Position: Shooting Guard
  • High School: Roosevelt High School (Dallas, Texas)
  • College: Rice University
  • NBA Draft: Detroit Pistons, 1982, Round 1, Pick 18
  • Player Archetype: Sixth Man Scorer / Isolation Shot Creator
  • Primary Offensive Role: Bench scoring specialist; half-court isolation and midrange creation
  • Defensive Role: Secondary perimeter defender
  • Play Style: Methodical scorer with elite footwork, pump fakes, and foul-drawing ability
  • Handedness / Shooting Hand: Right-handed
  • Athletic Profile: Average explosiveness; strong body control and balance
  • Recruiting Status: N/A
  • Draft Status Detail: First-round selection; developed into elite sixth man rather than primary star
  • Injury Status Category: Durable — maintained long-term availability with no major career-altering injuries
  • Career Stage: Retired
  • Comparison Style: Scoring-focused bench guard with elite efficiency
  • Comparable Players:
    • Jamal Crawford — microwave bench scorer with isolation focus
    • Lou Williams — foul-drawing sixth man shot creator
    • Manu Ginóbili — elite sixth man offensive spark
  • Teams Played For: N/A (insufficient verified table extraction)
  • Championship Rings: 0
  • Parents: N/A
  • Children: N/A
  • Siblings: N/A
  • Retirement Age: 38
  • Retirement Year: 1998

Ricky Pierce’s player archetype was a high-efficiency sixth-man scorer, operating primarily as a half-court offensive weapon while taking on a secondary defensive role on the perimeter. Offensively, he thrived as an isolation creator and midrange specialist, leveraging strong physical balance, compact strength, and elite footwork rather than explosiveness. His play style was deliberate and polished, built around shot fakes, drawing contact, and consistently converting difficult looks, making him one of the most reliable bench scoring options of his era.

Sources:
Basketball Reference — Ricky Pierce Stats
NBA.com — Ricky Pierce Bio
The Seattle Times — Former Sonics guard Ricky Pierce made scoring look easy