A day after a long-time friend tried to throw Zach Randolph under the bus, calling him the man behind an Indianapolis marijuana ring, police have backed off Randolph as a suspect.
Some great reporting by the Memphis Flyer follows all the twist and turns of the case, including the statement from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department saying Randolph, “is not a target of a drug investigation.”
Like so many NBA players, Randolph has turned to long-time friends or family to take care of his personal business. They know those people, they think they can trust them more than a professional, and all to often that just ends badly for the player. Hangers on often don’t care about the player or the person, they care about themselves and the fun ride.
Enter Arthur Boyd, who was watching the cars, home and other things belonging to Randolph near Indianapolis. While everything was in Randolph’s name, he appears to have had nothing to do with Boyd and drug dealing. It is possible that Boyd could produce evidence that would implicate Randolph, but if police were buying what Boyd was selling - figuratively -- then they would not be backing off Randolph like this.
You can say that Randolph should have known what was going on with his possessions, or that maybe he did, but that is a long way from a criminal charge, let alone conviction. But it still ends up another black mark on a very spotty past for Randolph, one he says he is working to distance himself from. But this and the recent run in at the strip club have people thinking the song remains the same.