A rare road victory, a 31 point 2nd half performance from Jamal Crawford (above, left), Nate Robinson’s celebratory homecoming and yet another solid effort from Channing Frye came under tough circumstances for the Knicks. Just prior to leaving for Seattle, Quentin Richardson received terrible news.
From the New York Times’ Howard Beck.
Quentin Richardson has left the Knicks indefinitely to be with his family after the fatal shooting of his brother in Chicago.
Lee Richardson Jr., 31, was shot multiple times during a robbery late Monday morning in a South Side neighborhood, a Chicago police spokesman said. He was pronounced dead at 5:39 p.m. Central time, the authorities said. Richardson’s father, Lee, was also robbed but was not reported to be harmed.
The news reached Quentin Richardson just before the Knicks held practice here early Monday afternoon. He flew home Monday night. The team did not announce his absence until Tuesday morning, saying Richardson left because of “a serious family emergency.”
The Richardson family has dealt with tragedy before. Another sibling, Bernard Richardson, was shot and killed in a robbery 13 years ago. Bernard was one of three family members to die during an eight-month span. Quentin’s mother, Emma Richardson, a former high school basketball player who sparked his interest in the sport, died of breast cancer, and his grandmother Ada died of natural causes.
Quentin Richardson, the youngest of five children, was 12 at the time. He has two tattoos that honor the memory of his relatives. On his left arm, under a halo, are his mother’s initials on a banner wrapped around a coffin, with the quotation, “This period of pain gives me the strength to succeed.” On his back is a cross with another banner that contains the initials of Emma, Bernard and Ada.
The Chicago police arrested three men in connection with Monday’s slaying. The arrests came after a chase through city streets. Fleeing in a van, the suspects crashed five times. The chase ended when the van crashed into a nursing home, the police said. Officers said they recovered two handguns and a number of stolen items from the van.