Between 2000 and 2007, Portland's quiet NBA franchise turned into a bad action movie, with those who would soon be called the “Jail Blazers” at center stage. But, let's say it straight away, no Trail Blazers player will spend a single night behind bars during this period.
On the other hand, they will very often hit the headlines because of their excessive and even downright violent behavior. At a time when the authorities of the Grand League wanted to get rid of the image of the “gangster” player…
Zach Randolph spends two weeks in the infirmary!
In this case, one of the most significant legends in the history of the Blazers of this era, it is the dispute between Ruben Patterson, the self-proclaimed “Kobe Stopper” defender, and Zach Randolph, a young interior who will not realize the consequences of his actions until too late.
“We called it: 'the slap we heard around the world!' “, laughs today Rasheed Wallace who tells the whole story in the podcast Gil's Arena. “We were at training one day. There was my guy Zach and my guy Qyntel Woods. They were always with each other, super close. In the correct meaning of the term. In training, as usual, we worked hard, we played hard! In this case, Rube was defending on Qyntel and the latter was a little tired of taking hits all the time. 'I'm already not playing in a match, let me play a little [à l’entraînement]' ! For his part, Rube said more or less the same thing but it was starting to get louder. »
Then all these beautiful unruly people will relax in the jacuzzi that the Blazers have just installed.
“Once in the locker room, Bonzi and I played Vince McMahon [l’ancien patron de la WWE, ndlr] : 'Z-Bo doesn't care about your b*******!' It continues, we are all in the jacuzzi, a huge thing, brand new. There must have been seven guys in there! We warmed each other. From the great classic: 'Are you going to let him talk to you like that?' And then we go back to the locker room and there they came to blows. They were on top of each other, wrestling style. And Zach had the upper hand. But there, I swear, Rube did something like an Olympic medalist [de lutte]. He just shifted a little and that put Zach in a bad position. And then, bam! On the concrete locker room floor, where there are only a few inches of carpet, Zach finds himself on the ground. B****! It was my fault and Bonzi's. Zach ended up in the infirmary for two weeks with a broken back. We felt bad for him! »
The fight breaks out…
A story of “trashtalking” that goes too far and ends in a fight in an NBA locker room, the Blazers are not the first, nor the last, to experience it! On the other hand, Rasheed Wallace and his family did not expect her to leave the locker room so quickly…
“We obviously wanted to keep that to ourselves. But a few days later, guys from other teams were coming to us and asking what happened in the locker room. I don't know how it came out but it came out very quickly. It was only supposed to be a camaraderie thing, something between teammates but it went too far and it got out afterwards. And then, above all, there was the revenge [de Z-Bo]. »
Indeed, the sophomore interior was still only a replacement who was still looking for his place in the Portland squad at the time, not to mention his place in the NBA landscape. With his baby face, he had no intention of letting himself be walked on and accepting his submission to his teammate who was used to sudden surges of black anger!
Time for revenge
It all started with a new disagreement between Ruben Patterson and Qyntel Woods, Z-Bo's great friend.
“We're at training and Rube and Q argue over an action, one asking for the fault, the other denying that it exists. The coaches try to play down the situation and we continue to play. But neither of them wanted to let go, they were facing each other, head to head so to speak. And then, we all saw it but we didn't expect it. You have Z-Bo coming out of nowhere and delivering a huge punch to Rube's face. A left potato in the eye. We found out later that he had broken his face! »
Ruben Patterson is not moping, and on the contrary, he is flying into a rage!
“My God, I had never been so scared in the NBA in my career until then! There, Rube transformed into the Incredible Hulk, except for the color green! He became darker and darker, in stronger and stronger rage! Realize it, it took nine people to stop him from hitting Zach. There was me, Dale Davis, Pipp' and Bonzi. He escaped from all of us one after the other. Rube was mad: 'Sheed, I'm going to kill him. I'm going to lay my hands on him and I'm going to kill him!' I said to myself, he's going to strangle her to death, that's nonsense! And when I come back to the locker room, who do I see? Good old Zach, all quiet, getting ready to take a shower. I told him, 'Dude, pack your bag, grab your things and go home ASAP!' »
Suspension, fine, apology…
Ultimately, Zach Randolph will be suspended for two games, plus a $100,000 fine. He was so afraid of the reaction of Ruben Patterson, the walking firecracker, that he took refuge with Dale Davis. While having to apologize to RubenPatterson for this punch in the eye.
According to sources at the time, Ruben Patterson had not accepted his teammate's apologies, but the two “boxers” would rub shoulders until 2006, when Patterson would be traded to Denver…
For the greater good of Zach Randolph, who had then become an indisputable starter with the Blazers, after the departure of Rasheed Wallace to Detroit in particular.
