Zach Randolph agreed to a plea deal stemming from his marijuana charge, but maintains it was in order to see the situation come to an end.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN provided a statement from the Sacramento Kingsforward and his lawyer, Rickey Ivie:
Per TMZ, Randolph pleaded no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest as part of a deal that dropped any charges related to marijuana.
Instead of the possibility of facing up to one year in jail for possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, he was instead sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
However, his lawyer maintains he was innocent of all charges and only took the deal to move on with his life.
He added that the player wanted to “avoid the time and distraction to his teammates” that would have come from trying to clear his name.
Randolph is set to begin his first year with the Kings after signing a two-year deal in the offseason. The 36-year-old had spent the previous eight seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies as part of 16 years in the NBA.
credit:bleacherreport.com