{"id":101632,"date":"2024-10-17T12:29:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T16:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=101632"},"modified":"2024-10-21T13:51:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T17:51:05","slug":"grizzlies-zach-randolph-inducted-memphis-hall-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/17\/grizzlies-zach-randolph-inducted-memphis-hall-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies Zach Randolph Inducted Into Hall Of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Memphis Grizzlies only have three players <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/14\/highlights-vince-carter-raptors-heavy-hof-enshrinement\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">who have been enshrined<\/a> in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pau Gasol<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/iversal01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Allen Iverson<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cartevi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vince Carter<\/a>. Among that trio, only Gasol was with the Grizzlies for more than three seasons. However, Gasol \u2014unlike his younger brother \u2014is most often remembered for his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n<p>As far as the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame goes, there\u2019s only one player who has been inducted: former NBA power forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randoza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Randolph<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Grizzlies\u2019\u00a0Zach Randolph Inducted Into Hall Of Fame<\/h2>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame officially received the honor after being selected last season. The other members of the Grizzlies\u2019 \u2018Grit \u2018n Grind\u2019 core \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/conlemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Conley<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allento01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Allen<\/a> \u2014are expected to eventually be inducted as well.<\/p>\n<p>Expressing his feelings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialappeal.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/grizzlies\/2024\/10\/16\/zach-randolph-memphis-grizzlies-hall-of-fame-tony-allen\/75635880007\/#\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">about the special moment<\/a>, Randolph says: \u201cMan, it\u2019s a great honor. I\u2019m grateful. I love this city.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI love this community, I love the people here. This is home for me.\u201d (h\/t DaMichael Cole of Memphis Commercial Appeal)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Allen, commonly referred to as The Grindfather during his time with the organization, was in attendance for Randolph\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Tony Allen looks like a proud brother. He said he\u2019s going to put this on his Tik Tok. Here is Zach Randolph talking with media before being inducted in the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame<\/p>\n<p>Photo: <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cjday1900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@cjday1900<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sQnlNfXO8q\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/sQnlNfXO8q<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DamichaelC\/status\/1846725297250402571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Gasol may be on deck for a Memphis Sports Hall of Fame enshrinement. Just last season, he was honored with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/07\/grizzlies-retire-jersey-beloved-big-man-marc-gasol\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a jersey retirement<\/a>. However, the fanfare surrounding Allen\u2019s induction <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/24\/grit-and-grind-grizzlies-member-tony-allen-to-have-jersey-retired-in-march\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">may be more intense<\/a> than any of his former teammates. His defensive acumen was key for the Grizzlies, but his mentality embodied their culture.<\/p>\n<h3>How Z-Bo Got Here<\/h3>\n<p>In 2001, Randolph was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers after helping Michigan State reach the Final Four. His rambunctiousness was well-known early on. However, he was a tough and skilled big man whose talents couldn\u2019t be denied. In just his third season, he averaged 20.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, subsequently winning the Most Improved Player Award.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, for all his individual success, the Blazers were unable to reach the playoffs after that. So, in the 2007 offseason, they traded him to the New York Knicks. After going 23-59 in 2007-08, the Knicks sent him to the Los Angeles Clippers the following offseason. The Clippers had even less success, going 19-63 in 2008-09.<\/p>\n<p>As L.A. tinkered with their roster, the decision was made to trade him to the Grizzlies. He promptly led a top-10 offense to a 40-42 record after they went 24-58 in 2008-09. After earning his first All-Star selection in 2010, it was clear that Randolph had found a home and Memphis a go-to player.<\/p>\n<p>Over the next seven seasons, the Grizzlies were able to reach the playoffs every year. Though they were never able to make it past the Western Conference Finals, it remains the franchise\u2019s longest streak of playoff appearances. As a result, after being miscast as a player who didn\u2019t contribute to winning, he became one of the faces of a perennial contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Memphis Grizzlies only have three players who have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Pau Gasol, Allen Iverson, and Vince Carter. Among that trio, only Gasol was with the Grizzlies for more than three seasons. However, Gasol \u2014unlike his younger brother \u2014is most often remembered for his time with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":101644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,62,3],"tags":[442,208,651,1064],"class_list":["post-101632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-marc-gasol","tag-mike-conley","tag-tony-allen","tag-zach-randolph"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}