Second-greatest player in the history of each NBA franchise

Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Randolph

Greatest Player: Marc Gasol

Despite posing as a near-nightly 20 and 10 threat, Zach Randolph didn’t hold a lot of grace around the league early in his career. He was unprofessional at times and had run-ins with the law, bouncing around three locations before winding up a member of the Memphis Grizzlies in 2009.

Z-Bo would make his first of two All-Star Games in his inaugural season in Memphis with averages of 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, but it was the following season where he stamped his place in Grizzlies’ history.

The Grizzlies had returned to the playoffs after a four-year hiatus, the eighth seed matched up with the top-seeded Spurs.

By averaging 21.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, Randolph helped Memphis to its first-ever playoff series victory while becoming just the second eighth seed to topple a one-seed in a best-of-seven series.

The Grizzlies bowed out to OKC in seven games the following round but became perennial playoff participants in the years after with seven straight appearances.

After Randolph’s second All-Star appearance in 2013, Memphis advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Randolph averaged 16.8 points and 10.2 rebounds in eight seasons with the Grizzlies. But more than the stats and the new heights of team success was the fanbase and community he called his own, a mutual love that contributed to his No. 50’s eventual presence in the rafters of the FedExForum.