American professional basketball player Zachary McKenley Randolph, better known as Z-Bo, is now a member of the Sacramento Kings, a team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is based in California. In college, he played for “Michigan State University,” and after his first year, he declared for the 2001 NBA Draft, choosing the “Portland Trail Blazers.” Randolph played for five different professional basketball clubs throughout his career, including the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies. He takes the power forward/center position on the field. He won the NBA award for “Most Improved Player” while playing with the “Portland Trail Blazers.” In 2010, he was chosen to play in his first “NBA All-Star” contest. His following “All-Star” contest took place in the 2012–13 campaign. He played in both of his ‘All-Star’ games with the Memphis Grizzlies. While playing for the “Grizzlies” in 2011, he was also chosen for the “All-NBA Third Team.” He spent the most time with the “Grizzlies” during his professional career before signing a two-year deal with the “Sacramento Kings” in July 2017. The best basketball player in the world is married with three sons and two girls.
Early Childhood & Life
On July 16, 1981, he was born in Marion, Indiana, in the US. His mother raised him and his three siblings, Kelly, Roger, and Tomika, by herself. He had admitted in an interview that he had never met his father. In November 2016, his mother passed away.
Randolph, who was known by his schoolmates as “crusty,” grew up in poverty and suffering and would frequently wear the same pair of pants for days on end. When he attempted to shoplift a pair of jeans from “Walmart,” he got into legal trouble. He was then sentenced to 30 days in juvenile prison.
Over time, he became involved in all kinds of nefarious work, including rebounding, muscling, and beating older men. When he was 15 years old, he was held under home arrest for battery. He was placed in juvenile jail for a few years after obtaining stolen guns. In 2002, he was also detained for underage drinking.
Despite these problems, Randolph was a good basketball player. He attended “Marion High School,” where he allegedly told his coach Moe Smedley that he was determined to join the “NBA.”
He helped the Marion Giants win the Indiana Class 4A Championship Game in 1998, his sophomore year. In his senior year, he guided his school’s squad to the state final. Due to this, “Marion High School” captured its seventh state basketball title.
Jared Jeffries won the 2000 Indiana “Mr. Basketball” title as the state’s best high school basketball player, with Randolph coming in second. Later on, when they were members of the “New York Knicks,” the two played together.
After finishing high school, he enrolled at “Michigan State University.” He proceeded to play basketball there with teammates like Charlie Bell and Jason Richardson and under the tutelage of coach Tom Izzo. In just one season, he played 33 games for the varsity team, posting a 28-5 record and averaging 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest. Randolph was a member of the Michigan State Spartans men’s basketball team in 2000–2001, which made it to its third consecutive “NCAA Final Four.”
The career of Zach Randolph
After his freshman year, he joined the 2001 ‘NBA’ draft of the Oregon-based professional basketball team known as the ‘Portland Trail Blazers,’ also known as the ‘Blazers,’ to begin his professional career.
He received the “NBA” award for “Most Improved Player” (MIP) in 2004. Following this accomplishment, he agreed to an extension with the “Blazers” for six years and US$ 84 million.
Randolph was only able to play for the ‘Portland Trail Blazers’ until March 2007 due to a hand injury he sustained during the 2006–2007 campaign. His per-game averages were 23.6 points and 10.1 rebounds. In the game, which also happened to be his final with the “Blazers,” he recorded a career-high 43 points and 17 rebounds. In the six seasons he spent with the team, he averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
On June 28, 2007, he was traded to the ‘New York Knicks,’ also known as the ‘Knicks.
He appeared in 69 games with the “Knicks” in the 2007–2008 season, averaging 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds each game. He played 11 games for the ‘Knicks’ during the 2008–2009 season, averaging 18.0 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest. On November 21, 2008, he was traded to the ‘Los Angeles Clippers’.
He punched Phoenix Suns player Louis Amundson in the jaw on February 17, 2009, while playing for the “Clippers” against the “Phoenix Suns,” for which he was sent off the floor and later suspended. He stayed with the “Clippers” through the completion of the 2008–09 season, appearing in 39 games and averaging 20.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest.
On July 17, 2009, the “Clippers” traded him to the “Memphis Grizzlies” of Tennessee. In 2010, while playing for the “Grizzlies,” he was chosen to play in his first NBA All-Star game. In the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs, the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies defeated the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs. In the team’s existence, the “Grizzlies” won their first playoff game. Randolph set a playoff record during the sixth game with a total of 31 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
He stayed on with the “Grizzlies” for an additional four years. On April 18, 2011, a US$ 66 million guarantee was made as part of his 71 million dollar salary. When he was named to the “All-NBA Third Team” for the 2010–2011 season, he accomplished yet another feat.
He was chosen for his second “All-Star” game during the 2012–2013 “Memphis Grizzlies” season. His outstanding performance on May 15, 2013, helped the squad defeat the “Oklahoma City Thunder” and go to the “Western Conference Finals” for the first time in the franchise’s history. However, in the “Western Conference Finals,” they were defeated by the “San Antonio Spurs.”
On June 30, 2014, he exercised his player option for the 2014–2015 campaign and extended his relationship with the ‘Grizzlies,’ inking a two–year, US$ 20 million contract.
In a 113-102 victory over the “Los Angeles Clippers,” on March 19, 2016, he recorded his first triple-double of his career with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He became the ‘Grizzlies’ all-time leader in field goals on November 2 of that year. On December 6, 2016, he reached the milestone of 1,000 career games played, becoming the 121st “NBA” player to do so.
On July 10, 2017, he agreed to a two-year, $24 million contract with the Sacramento Kings. On December 20, 2017, he recorded 21 points and eight rebounds in a game against the “Brooklyn Nets,” surpassing the milestone of 10,000 rebounds in his career.
Personal Legacy & Life
He started dating Faune Drake in 2013, and they got married in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014. Zacharia, Zachary Randolph Jr., and Zaqary are his three boys; Maziya and Mackenly are his two daughters. He has two children from a previous relationship and three children from his marriage to Faune.
Zach Randolph’s Net Worth
American professional basketball player Zach Randolph has an estimated net worth of $85 million. In 1998, as a power forward for Marion High School, Zach Randolph helped his team win the Indiana Class 4A State Championship. Zach Randolph was born in Marion, Indiana in 1981. Later, Zach Randolph joined Tom Izzo’s team at Michigan State University, where he helped the Spartans to the NCAA Final Four in his rookie campaign. Zach Randolph decided against continuing his collegiate career after his first year and instead entered the 2001 NBA Draft. The Portland Trailblazers took him with the 19th overall choice in the first round. In the NBA, Zach Randolph has so far appeared for four different clubs. He spent time with the Portland Trailblazers from 2001 to 2007, the New York Knicks in 2008 and 2009, the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008 and 2009, and the Memphis Grizzlies since 2009. In 2010 and 2013, Zach Randolph was chosen for the NBA All-Star team twice. In 2001, he was selected for the NBA Third Team, and in 2004 he was named the league’s Most Improved Player. Zach Randolph has received an NBA salary of $185 million as of 2018. He now ranks among the top 20 earners in NBA history thanks to that sum.