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 5:39pm 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.
PHOTO: EPA
The team did not announce his absence until Tuesday morning, saying Richardson left because of "a serious family emergency."
"Out of respect for his privacy and what he and his family are dealing with, we won't comment on any of his personal issues or things that are happening," said the team president Isiah Thomas, who is also a Chicago native. "Our prayers and thoughts are with him."
It is unclear when Richardson will return to the team, but he is certain to miss the rest of this trip, which includes games against his two former teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns.
Although Richardson was absent from Monday's practice, teammates were unaware of what had happened until later in the afternoon.
"The mood of the team was definitely down," said Eddy Curry, who like Richardson is from Chicago's South Side.
"It was tough, man. He just had like a blank expression on his face, like everything was drained out of him. I had never seen him like that, never. I'm so used to him always being a joker, laughing and talking loud and stuff."
Acquired in June from Phoenix in a trade for Kurt Thomas, Richardson has struggled since joining the Knicks. In 14 games, including 12 starts at shooting guard and small forward, Richardson has averaged a career-low 6.9 points and is shooting 38.1 percent from the field.
The Richardson family has dealt with tragedy efore. 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.
The suspects have not been identified or charged yet, and the police are releasing few details. The investigation is continuing.
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