Zach Randolph, former power forward of the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies has decided to cancel his comeback plan and officially retire from basketball, according to TMZ Sports on Thursday.

Back in June, the 38-year-old told TMZ "he was 'back to training' and was hoping to sign a deal with a team for the 2019-20 season." Given that he watched the Christmas showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center in the city, perhaps what he saw changed his mind.

As the 19th select of the 2001 NBA Draft, Randolph joined the Portland Trail Blazers and impressed the league with his smart rebounding and soft touch. However, soon the 2.06-meter-tall player began to lose the favor of his team. Randolph exchanged punches with Ruben Patterson in training; he did not like defense and he could not protect the rim.

To be fair, Randolph was not the biggest problem for the Trail Blazers back then. The team has several troublemakers who have hurt their image with violence charges, drug problems and improper behavior on the court. For quite a while, the team was known as the "Portland Jail Blazers".

The good news was, Randolph then began to find his game. He averaged 20.1 points, 10.5 rebounds in the 2003-4 season and has continued to drop similar numbers since then. In the 2006-7 season, he scored 23.6 points per game, the highest in his career.

Nonetheless, this was also his last season in Portland because of his lazy defensive performance and occasional 3-pointer shooting – back then, big men shooting from 3-point line drove their coaches crazy. Though he maintained his 20+10 performance later with the New York Knicks and the Clippers, Randolph did not cause a stir and was forgotten by the league like the many talented, self-indulgent players before him.

Thankfully, he joined the Grizzlies a move which resulted in the turning point of his career.

Memphis is not pleasure-seeking New York or LA; Randolph did not find talented but problematic teammates like he did in Portland. However, Randolph began to play like a real professional and his teammates included: smart passing and defensive Spanish center Marc Gasol, consistent old-school point guard Mike Conley, and the "best defender I ever faced" according to Kobe Bryant, Tony Allen.

Without smooth, fast passing, exciting dunks or fancy penetrating, the Grizzlies' play was a total snoozefest. Mike Conley always handled the ball in a secure away and sometimes joined Allen to make the most pressurizing perimeter defense of the league; Gasol did not share the splendid offensive skills of his brother Pau, but he supported the team's offensive and defensive system by appearing at the correct location and giving the ball to the right person.

Randolph, who had lost his athleticism by this point, was better than ever at tussling with his strong lower body, slashing via triple threat, shooting in the middle range, posting up in the low block and chasing offensive rebounds.

From the 2010-11 season, the Grizzlies became an intimidating road block in the Western Conference playoffs. In 2011, they knocked conference number one Spurs despite ranking eighth in the first round; in 2013, the Grizzlies eliminated two fan favorites, the "Lob City" Clippers and the Thunder led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; in 2015, they initially led future champions Golden State Warriors 2-1 until Andre Iguodala was added to the starting unit, making the well-known lethal small-ball five.

Randolph enjoyed the most glorious years of his career in Memphis until injuries deprived him of his ability to play. Having played 17 seasons with the NBA, Randolph made about 200 million dollars in his salary and was known as the best offensive weapon of the toughest team for years.