Back in the day, Nick Richardson knew how to handle the ball. As a star player with his rec center basketball team in Southwest Philly, he helped the team take home so many trophies his mom didn’t know what to do with them.
Now the trophies have mostly fallen apart, worn and torn by being moved around over the years, but his mom says she has more reason than ever to dust them off and put them all back together.
Nicholas Richardson was 27 when he was shot dead in West Philadelphia on Feb. 19, 2017.
They called him Bean — his mother never knew why — and he did get in some trouble when he was younger, said his mother, Carla Rowley. But once he did a little time in jail and was on probation, he couldn’t stop getting jobs.
“Once he got out, he just took off,” Carla said. “I still just don’t understand what happened.”
Nick was raised in Southwest Philadelphia and went to Bartram High School, playing ball with the Myers Rec Center team. He fell into the restaurant business and found another passion, enjoying cooking for a wide range of restaurants in the city, most recently at 36th and Chestnut.
His passion for basketball continued throughout his short life, and he often played pickup games with friends. Sometimes, he’d play football, or video games, but he always came back to basketball. “That was his number one thing,” Carla said.
He had two sisters and two sons — Nicholas is 8 and Aiden is 3 — which means he was surrounded by love.
“One of his kids looks just like him,” Carla said. “It’s tough because when I look at my grandson, I’m looking at my son. He was a wonderful young man. I just wish he would have lived a little longer.”
No one has been arrested for the murder, and sadly, Carla doesn’t think anyone will.
“People are not gonna say anything,” she said, sounding exhausted. “You know how people are. They’re not gonna to say anything. They’re going get hot if people talk.”
Since his death was unexpected, his sister rushed to handle the arrangements, not even having time to get an urn after he was cremated.
“We still gotta go on Amazon,” Carla said, “and we’ll get a nice one.”
To send us more information about Nick, please contact us at [email protected].
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