The Knicks Fix

During my research and interviewing process on Friday for a profile of Zach Randolph, a columnist at the Oregonian told me a few good stories. One was about how neighbors of Randolph's five-acre spread in rural Portland heard angry shouts and curses when the trade was announced on Thursday night.

It didn't come from Randolph. He wasn't there. He was said to be in his new offseason home in Indianapolis, which is near his hometown of Marion, Ind. Reports today have Randolph in LA with his agent (neither one of them called me back! I got immediate beef with them now) before he comes to New York.

Safe to say not everyone in Portland was upset with the deal. The neighbors, for one, hope it means the departure of Randolph's notorious circle of friends, known as the "Hoop Family." Yes, it wasn't too difficult to dig up a lot of dirt about Randolph and his boys. Lewd tales of sexual conduct (one police interview I obtained revealed that Randolph and his friend "share" at least one particular girlfriend) and a lot of wilding and partying. DUI. Marijuana use. Shooting guns in the air.

Sounds like NBA all-star weekend.

But in delving a little deeper, most people I spoke with say Randolph is actually a pretty easy guy to get along with. Charismatic. Friendly. Non-confrontational. One man told me about a time Randolph saw the man and his family standing together at a Blazers function. Randolph walked over to them and offered to sign autographs for his kids and engaged in a friendly conversation with the family.

The problems are mostly blamed on his friends, most of whom are dudes he grew up with that ascended on Portland from Marion.

Others also told me that Portland, the city, was over-sensitive to most of his wrongdoings. He got off on a bad foot with cops when during a traffic stop early in his career, he once tossed his keys into his car and locked it. Can't search anything locked without a warrant.

Jay-Z gave a lesson in "99 Problems"....

Glove compartment's locked, so's the trunk in the back
So you gonna need a warrant for that
(Aren't you sharp as a tack,
You some type of lawyer or something,
somebody important or something?)
I ain't passed the bar, but I know a lil bit
Enough for you to illegally search my ---

That didn't help him make any friends in the force. And when his disrespect continued, they made sure the media knew about every thing he was pulled over for or every time a complaint was put against him.

If you research most of the complaints against him, there has never been enough evidence to prosecute. The sexual assault charge? Police had evidence of several text messages the woman sent as an attempt to get money -- as much as $10,000 -- in exchange for her not pressing charges against him. Eventually, she sued him and they settled out of court.

As for being at a strip club during a so-called bereavement leave he took from the Blazers last season? One person told me that he stopped for a beer at his "regular spot" (apparently, he has his own table at a choice Portland peeler) on the way to the airport to attend the funeral in Indiana.

So I'm told much of his trouble is attributed to it taking place in a small, white-collar city that already had it fill of the Jail Blazers of Rasheed Wallace, Isaiah Rider, Ruben Patterson, etc. But there was one person who said the Portland police's gang unit noticed gang-related symbols around Randolph's house during an episode of MTV "Cribs."

Of course it was once suggested that Quentin Richardson's fists-to-head sign after hitting three-pointers was considered a "gang symbol." Q dismissed that notion, but stopped making the sign anyway. The fun was taken out of it.

What it appears to me is that Zach hasn't had much authority in his life. His basketball talent and his NBA money has made him feel above anyone's rules. Even with documented history of using marijuana, we can't know if he's ever failed an NBA drug test (players are tested four times a year) because that information is never made public. "Not even David [Stern] knows," one NBA source told me.

Hopefully, Isiah Thomas will know. And will know how to deal with it.

And, hopefully, someone keeps Nate Robinson far, far away from the "Hoop Family."