Zach Randolph Went Into Hiding After Busting Teammates Eye Socket

One story involving Randolph is a flashback from the 2003 season. During a scrimmage between Qyntel Woods and Ruben Patterson, Randolph decided to take Woods’ side. The incident somewhat escalated, and Patterson ended up with a broken eye socket from a punch thrown by Randolph.

Per Grantland:

It didn’t help that Randolph kept battling with Patterson, one of the league’s more intimidating personalities and someone who had been arrested three times between 2000 and 2002 (including once after police charged him with attempting to rape his children’s nanny).

Patterson often targeted and taunted Randolph, with their bad blood culminating during a 2003 practice: Randolph noticed teammate Qyntel Woods arguing with Patterson and came to Woods’ defense, sucker-punching Patterson. (Remembers Stoudamire, “I didn’t see what had happened because I had got the steal, so I was going the other way. Then all I heard was, ‘Come on, Zach.’ I turned back around and it was chaos.”)

After Patterson suffered a fractured eye socket, Canzano later recalled that “there was a period of a few days after that incident where Randolph hid out at Dale Davis’s house because he feared that Patterson was going to try and shoot him.”