Zach Randolph has had his share of being a bad boy on the court. Despite that demeanor, he remains a fan favorite.
Following his recent arrest due to illegal possession of marijuana, his new lease of life with the Sacramento Kings may turn out to be a horrific one. According to the Associated Press, the 36-year-old forward was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday night.
Randolph was arrested, booked and later on released on bail set at $20,000. He has been asked to appear before court on August 31-- not exactly the way Randolph may have pictured his break from playing pro ball.
Bunched with the wrong crowd
According to Randolph’s agent and attorney Raymond Brothers, the accusations were false and misleading. But based on the reports, clearing Randolph may be easier said than done.
Inadvertently, Randolph seems to be part of that group behind the Wednesday night disturbance. The whole issue even damaged five LA police vehicles when things got out of hand.
The report reveals that the group was drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana while playing loud music, blocking a street at the Nickerson Gardens project in Watts according to ESPN. Bottles were eventually thrown and there was even one nabbed for suspicion of carrying a gun (Stanley Walton).
With so many charges tied up to the unfortunate event, the best Randolph can hope for right now is not being tied up to the other charges.
Marijuana use seems to be the only one he could be guilty of though a proper drug test may be needed to confirm all that.
Wrong place, wrong timing
The Sacramento Kings have yet to release an official statement on the matter. They will likely stay as neutral as possible and look into the matter themselves.
Randolph recently got a two-year deal worth $24 million, filling the void left by DeMarcus Cousins who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.
With limited time, his experience and leadership are seen as the reason behind the signing, likely to be the last contract of his illustrious NBA career.
The whole fracas severely tarnishes that trust part on Randolph. That all depends on what goes down after he appears in court – something that will hopefully not be a serious issue.
The Kings already had their share of issues with Cousins the past years, something they got tired of that led to the trade. Randolph may be a new face but team owner Vivek Ranadive and Vice President/ General Manager Vlade Divac may use this recent debacle as a means to evaluate if they got the right guy to lead the squad.