Isaiah Rider

In 2012, Rider announced he was planning to release a documentary about his life, called My Testimony: Raw and Uncut. Rider has also established a charitable organization for children called the Sky Rider Foundation. "I just want to help kids. With today's economy some parents cannot afford to send their kids to the extracurricular activities. It's very costly, there's registration fees, equipment, uniforms and shoe costs. If a kid has dreams to be somebody, I want to help", he said in an interview.

During his NBA career and in subsequent years, Rider was dogged by a variety of personal problems, including accusations of drug use and assault. In 2007, he was sentenced to seven months in jail after pleading guilty to cocaine possession, evading the police, and battery, though he only served about half of that time. "It was the ultimate low point of my life [...] There were no visitors. No one down for me. No letters. I had fake friends. They left me for dead", Rider told Yahoo! Sports. At the time of his sentencing, Rider's mother was in a coma, which weighed heavily on his mind.

Prior to the 2001–02 season, the Denver Nuggets signed Rider to help resuscitate their moribund offense, but Rider's stint in Denver was limited to just 10 games before he was waived on November 20, 2001. Rider refused to term it "retirement" at the time, however, insisting that he could still play if given the chance.

Rider played in 67 games with the Lakers during the 2000–01 season, leading their bench in scoring with a 7.6 average. Though left off the playoff roster in favor of Greg Foster and Devean George, Rider was awarded a championship ring by the franchise. After the season, Rider stated that he wanted to return to the Lakers.

In the 1997–98 season, Rider led the Blazers in scoring (19.7 points per game, 15th in the NBA) and three-pointers made (135, 8th) and attempted (420). Rider tallied a season-high 38 points (15-25 FG), along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists, against the Toronto Raptors on February 1, 1998.

In the 1998–99 season, Rider averaged 13.9 points per game and led the team in scoring 13 times.

Following the 1998–99 season, Rider was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a trade that sent Steve Smith to the Blazers. The Hawks had finished fourth in the Eastern Conference in the lockout-shortened season, and thought Rider was the final piece in the puzzle. So they sent Smith to the Blazers for Rider and Jim Jackson, another talent who had not quite reached his potential. The trade didn't sit well with Hawks fans, since Smith had been one of the most popular players on the team. Coach Lenny Wilkens didn't want the trade either, but tried to fit Rider into the system.

While Rider averaged 19 points per game in his three years with the Timberwolves, his play slipped after his rookie season. He also began a pattern of off-court misbehavior. He was found to be insubordinate towards Timberwolves management, and was involved in an incident in which he kicked the female manager of a sports bar for which he ultimately was convicted of fifth-degree assault. By 1996, Minnesota finally lost patience with Rider and dealt him to Portland in return for Bill Curley, James Robinson and a conditional first round draft pick in 1997 or 1998. Just before the trade Rider was arrested for marijuana possession. At the time of his arrest he also had an illegal cell phone; it had been altered to charge calls to someone else's bill. He was later convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession, and pleaded no contest to possessing the illegal cell phone. Three weeks later, he was arrested for gambling in public back in Oakland.

Rider also became famous for a miraculous shot made in a game on December 22, 1994, against the Sacramento Kings. Losing control of the ball with it nearly going out of bounds, Rider reached out and threw the ball over his shoulder to keep it in play, and the ball went through the hoop as a three-point basket, a play that one announcer exclaimed as the "Play of the decade."

On a 1994 album titled B-Ball's Best Kept Secret which featured songs performed by NBA players ranging from Gary Payton and Jason Kidd to Brian Shaw and Chris Mills, Rider (credited as J.R. on the album) provided the track "Funk in the Trunk."

Rider was chosen with the 5th overall pick of the 1993 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rider started his NBA career strong, finishing the 1993–94 season as a member of the NBA's All-Rookie First Team. He won the 1994 NBA Slam Dunk Contest (he brashly predicted that he would win on draft day) with a dunk that he called "The East Bay Funk Dunk."

During the 1991–1992 season, Rider led the Runnin' Rebels to a 26-2 record (18-0 in conference) and a number 7 ranking in the final Associated Press regular season poll while averaging over 21 points per game, but wasn't seen on national television because UNLV was serving an NCAA-imposed punishment that stemmed from previous infractions. (In a "plea bargain" of sorts, UNLV was allowed to defend its NCAA title the previous year – they lost to Duke in the Final Four. In exchange, the Rebels were barred from postseason play and national television for the 1991–92 season.) He finally got the nation's eyes to watch him in his senior year, where he averaged 29.1 points per game (2nd in the country behind University of Texas-Pan American's Greg Guy), was named the Big West Conference Player of the Year and garnered 2nd-Team All-American honors. UNLV finished 21-8 (13-5 in Big West Conference), lost the regular season conference title to New Mexico State and failed to make the NCAA's 64-team Tournament field. The Rebels did earn a spot in the National Invitation Tournament, but Rider was suspended for the NIT due to academic issues surrounding allegations that he had someone cheating for him on some of his college classwork. Without their star player on the court, the Runnin' Rebels were knocked out of the NIT in the 1st round 90-73 to Southern California.

Isaiah Rider Jr., nicknamed J.R. (born March 12, 1971), is an American former professional basketball player.