Former Blazers Big Zach Randolph Announces Retirement

A full season removed from the court, veteran power forward Zach Randolph announced the end to his comeback attempt earlier this week, signifying his retirement. Randolph was selected by the Trail Blazers with the No. 19 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft and appeared in 387 regular season games for Portland.

On the same evening that they drafted Greg Oden, the Blazers shipped Randolph to the Knicks in exchange for a package that included Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Along with a brief tenure in New York, Randolph would go on to play with the Clippers before landing in Memphis. With the Grizzlies, the former Michigan State standout formed one of the pillars to Memphis’ grit-and-grind reputation.

Randolph mentioned the Blazers in his retirement announcement.

Now retired, Randolph is among several NBA players that have joined ownership groups based in the NBL (the National Basketball League in Australia and New Zealand). ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz highlighted the trend earlier this week.