Canzano: Zach Randolph and Trail Blazers continue to go in opposite directions
By John Canzano, The Oregonian
May 27, 2010, 7:33PM
STAFFORD -- The house on Turner Road still has a regulation basketball hoop at the end of long the driveway. But that blasted "Hoops Family" insignia is gone from the front gates. And the current caretaker of the property that was once featured on an MTV's Cribs episode now has a tiny red tricycle sitting on the porch.
A couple of abandoned trash cans stand at the top of the driveway. There's a stillness on the property's front-yard pond. And the neighbors of this Stafford-area home no longer wake up to the sounds of late-night gunfire, shouting and racing all-terrain vehicles.
The home Zach Randolph and his entourage lived in while he played for the Trail Blazers feels far away from the fray today.
The good neighbors were thankful that there were no circling television-news helicopters on Thursday. And no reporters ringing the bell at the front gates, wondering what unsavory "Hoops Family" characters might be observing through the closed-circuit security cameras Randolph installed when he moved in.
Think on that bit of peace.
Because Randolph, 28, is being asked questions by law enforcement again. Arthur Boyd, a 32-year old member of Randolph's entourage, faces drug charges after Indianapolis police found him driving Randolph's 2008 Escalade with a couple of hidden compartments and a container containing marijuana and ammunition.
Police have impounded four vehicles owned by Randolph. They're looking at residue in storage lockers rented in Randolph's name. A probable-cause affidavit filed in Marion County Superior Court said Randolph was a "financier" for known drug dealers and supplied individuals with marijuana, vehicles and a suburban Indianapolis home where they could live.
The Memphis Grizzlies, Randolph's current employer, said in a statement Thursday that the organization is backing its All-Star forward, and that Randolph has embraced hard work while a part of their team.
Forgive me for rolling my eyes. But I'm thinking the old neighbors on Turner Road are doing it too, today. Blazers fans, too. And also, the Portland Police Department gang enforcement team that saw his MTV episode and grew concerned over gang symbols all around Randolph's home.
It's the Grizzlies problem now, of course.
Understand. The Blazers front office hasn't been perfect. It picked Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. It had a shaky free-agent 2009 summer, and a first-round 2010 playoff loss to Phoenix. But as long as we're keeping score, chalk up the decision to flush Randolph and the "Hoops Family" as a big-time sign that general manager Kevin Pritchard and Co. understand what it takes to win.
The Blazers traded a $84 million player with 20-point, 10-rebound talent along with Dan Dickau and Freddy Jones to New York for Channing Frye, cap-room left by the voided contract of Steve Francis, and a second-round draft pick.
Randolph, who scored 43 points in his final game as a Blazer, scratched his head over that trade. He laughed at Portland for being foolish. But anyone paying attention understood the Blazers were flushing Randolph, even if he couldn't see it. What we didn't know at the time was that the Blazers hired a private investigator prior to making that move and ended up with a file one-inch thick on the Randolph and his posse.
"It was bad, bad stuff," a team source said.
Today, Randolph is with is third team since leaving Portland and will again answer questions from police. And the Blazers look smart.
We shouldn't ignore that this week ends up a pretty good one for a franchise with a track record of making poor character assessments.
Yeah, I know.
Randolph wasn't arrested. Police say he isn't yet officially under "investigation" even as they're obtaining warrants to search his property. But anyone who knows Randolph's history with police knows that it always seems to be a matter of time and trouble with the player.
Let's see. Randolph was drag racing down Broadway, also, arrested for driving under the influence, also questioned in an alleged sexual assault, then questioned again in another nightclub shooting that left three people wounded and sent his brother Roger to prison, and then there was also a practice sucker-punch that smashed then-teammate Ruben Patterson's eye socket. There were problems in high school, and in college at Michigan State, too.
And, while Indiana police were investigating one Randolph-related incident this week, police in Gardena, Calif., were following up on an alleged assault in which the victim blamed another member of Randolph's crew.
I thought about all of that when I heard police were tangled up looking at Randolph and the "Hoops Family" entourage that followed him to Portland, then New York, Los Angeles, Memphis and, in the NBA offseason, Indiana. I thought about the Randolph trouble. The arrests. The level of activity he had with police. The long list of complaints and trouble that a basketball star and his closest people caused.
Now, all I can think about now is that little red tricycle in the driveway of his old place.
That's some sweet scenery on a day like this.
