Richard Raivio is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player.

Career

In high school, Raivio played basketball and football for Benson in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In basketball, he was a member of three PIL (Portland Interscholastic League) championship teams and won two state championships. He was inducted into the Portland Interscholastic League Sports Hall of Fame. In his four-year college career at the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

, Raivio scored 1668 points, which put him second on the all-time scoring list. He grabbed an all-time leading 910 rebounds and also ranked first in field goal percentage (.575) and free throws made (454). He was a three time All-

West Coast Athletic Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCA ...

selection, the 1979 University of Portland Athlete of the Year and a Scholastic All-American in 1980. He was inducted into the Portland Pilots’ Hall of Fame in 1991. A 6’5’’ forward, Raivio was drafted 163th overall by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

in the

1979 NBA draft The 1979 NBA draft was the 33rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on Monday, June 25. In this draft, the 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

. In the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

, the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

selected him 114th overall. In the summer of 1981, Raivio attended the Los Angeles Lakers' rookie camp and played in the Los Angeles Summer League. Raivio spent his professional career in Europe. He played under American coach Gary Lawrence at

Pully Basket Pully Lausanne Foxes is a Swiss professional basketball club that is based in Pully. The team currently plays in the Swiss Basketball League (SBL), the highest basketball tier in Switzerland. Until 2017, the club was known as Pully Basket. Histo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. On November 3, 1982, playing in the European competition

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

with Pully, he scored 40 points against

KK Zadar Košarkaški klub Zadar (), commonly referred to as KK Zadar or simply Zadar, is a men's professional basketball Sports club, club based in Zadar, Croatia. The club is a founding member and shareholder of the ABA League JTD, Adriatic Basketball A ...

from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, a team which included

Stojko Vranković Stojan "Stojko" Vranković (born 22 January 1964) is a Croatian professional basketball executive and former player. He served as the president of the Croatian Basketball Federation from 2016 to 2022. A 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center, he played ...

who later would play in the NBA. From 1985 to 1987, Raivio played for Racing Mechelen in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where he was known as an all-around player. He went on to play in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Raivio averaged 30.7 points, 11.5 rebounds as well as 4.9 assists per game for ProB side Montpellier in 1987–88, helping the team move up to the French elite league. In the country's top division, he continued his high scoring ways, averaging 30.2 points per contest in 1988-89 for Montpellier, to go along with 9.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists a game. From 1989 to 1991, he played for

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

in the French league, before rounding out his professional career at

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France ...

in 1991–92. Subsequently, Raivio returned to the US, settling in the

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

area in the

state of Washington Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, where he became a

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

. He is the father of

Derek Raivio Derek Raivio (born November 9, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Benfica of the Portuguese Basketball League. College career Raivio played for four seasons at Gonzaga University under coach Mark Few ...

and

Nik Raivio Nik is a male nickname/moniker derived from the Ancient Greek word ''νίκη'' (nike), meaning 'victory'. The name Nik is a shortened form that has several origins. One of the interpretations is that the name comes from Nike, the mythological god ...

, who both became professional basketball players, and Matt Raivio, who played college basketball.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raivio, Rick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Monaco American expatriate basketball people in Switzerland American men's basketball players AS Monaco Basket players ASVEL Basket players Basketball players from Portland, Oregon Forwards (basketball) Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Montpellier Paillade Basket players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Portland Pilots men's basketball players