17-Year NBA Veteran Reveals Insane Locker Room Fight Story

One of the worst locker room fights in NBA history.

Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

NBA fights don't happen often, but when they do, they're seldom an ugly fight. However, there's one locker room fight in the history of the league that's much worse than your standard tug-of-war. It comes from none other than Memphis Grizzlies legend Zach Randolph.

Zach Randolph was a guest on Wave Sport's Podcast P, where he revealed a story about his locker room fight with Ruben Patterson. At the time, Randolph claims he was around 18-19 years old and Patterson was near his 30s.

“Man, listen, Ruben is a bully man," Randolph said. "He's a bully…I'm going to get my story out…He had to get some get back man. He slammed me, man. He's a bully. Ruben is strong man. So he come in, he just got done lifting waist now he ain't got no body fat. I'm 18, 19. This a grown man. I think he [was] probably 28, 30, 29...And he come in the locker room, ‘can’t nobody slam me.’ After working out, we in the locker room…So I'm sitting around, I'm like, I'm from the hood. So I grew up locking up in the yard. We dumping each other every day. That's fun…I'm thinking somebody going to say something like you got me fucked up or something.”

“Slammed me so bad they had to pick me up and put me on the stretcher table.”

Zach Randolph reliving his fights with former teammate Ruben Patterson is the WILDEST thing 😭

More stories with Z-Bo on the new episode premiering NOW: https://t.co/0VnXB9Fqpm pic.twitter.com/gKnP1XB3CE

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) June 3, 2024

As the two tussled up, Ruben ended up slamming Randolph all across the locker room as if it were a WWE fight. It was easily the most manhandled that Randolph, who is an NBA tough guy in his own right, has been in his career.

“I stood up, try to grab him, we lock up, he slammed– he throwing me all in the lockers," Randolph said. "Boom! Boom! I'm trying to, I'm 19, I ain't going. So I'm trying to, man, it's a difference, grown man strength I found out then it's different...So he slammed me in the locker, boom, all over the locker room. Boom, boom, boom. So we get back to the middle now Portland, in the locker room is carpet on the floor, but underneath the carpet it's concrete. So I'm standing off thinking he going to grab me again. We get the middle, he dropped on me, grabbed my legs. Man, pick me up bro. Like this and thump me on my back like a WWE fool.”

The most shocking thing about Randolph's story is that no one actually tried to stop the fight. They all allowed a teenager to get mandhandled by a 30 year old man. While some people miss the old days of the NBA, this part of the old days has gladly been erased.