Memphis forward Zach Randolph has agreed to a contract extension with the Grizzlies, his agent said Friday. Raymond Brothers confirmed to The Associated Press in a text message a Yahoo Sports report that Randolph is exercising his $16.5 million option for the 2014-15 season and has agreed on a two-year extension worth $20 million. Since coming to Memphis in 2009, Randolph has been a cornerstone of the Grizzlies franchise. His return indicates the Grizzlies will bring back the nucleus of a team that won 50 games this season and lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Randolph averaged 17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds this season to lead the Grizzlies in both categories, though he was suspended for the final game of the Oklahoma City series after punching Thunder centre Steven Adams in the jaw. He owns career averages of 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 13 NBA seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers and Grizzlies. After bouncing around a few organizations early in his career, Randolph has found a home in Memphis while helping the Grizzlies make four consecutive playoff appearances. Randolph, who turns 33 on July 16, made the All-Star game in 2010 and 2013 to become the only Memphis player with multiple All-Star appearances. He helped lead the Grizzlies to a Western Conference finals appearance in 2013. He also emerged as arguably the teams most popular player for the way he exemplified the Grizzlies "grit n grind" mentality. The Randolph extension stole most of the attention on a day when the Grizzlies also introduced first-round draft pick Jordan Adams and second-round selection Jarnell Stokes. Adams, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from UCLA picked 22nd overall, could boost the offence of a Grizzlies team that averaged just 96 points last season. Stokes, a 6-foot-8 forward from Tennessee, should provide energy and rebounding. "I think theyre going to be pros for the next 10 years," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said. "I really do." Stokes selection represents a homecoming for the Memphis native who recalled watching Grizzlies games "from the nosebleeds" section while in high school. The Grizzlies traded for Stokes after the Utah Jazz drafted him with the 35th overall pick. "I was just watching every single thing that players do," Stokes said. "I really liked Zach Randolph. I really liked how he used his leverage and how hes able just to find a way to make it happen when guys continuously doubt him. I definitely would love to learn from a guy like Zach Randolph." Now hes going to get that chance. Wholesale Air Jordan From China . Its Wu-Tang and Outkast in the final. 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The family has requested privacy....is the biggest, baddest and best poker festival in the WORLD. It helps if you imagine Jeremy Clarkson saying that, in that deep gravelly voice and elongated WORLDDDDDD. The 2016 WSOP is in town - well it is if Las Vegas is your town - so first up, what is the World Series of Poker, or as it is more usually known, the WSOP?Its the poker equivalent of Wimbledon tennis, The Masters Golf, horse racings Royal Ascot or Cheltenham, snookers World Championship - all of which have a natural home. Same with the WSOP - it belongs in Las Vegas. There are mini-versions and copycat events which feed off the brand and take place in Europe and elsewhere, but they are simply not the real deal. Put simply, its the very pinnacle of poker, where the best meet the best. Its live poker, not online poker, and it takes place in Las Vegas every summer, and has done since way back in 1970.Initially, it was just one tournament, and it cost $10,000 to enter. In 1970, $10,000 was a lot of money. Come to think of it, that is a lot of money in 2016, too.Originally, there was just one tournament - the $10,000 biggie. These days, having expanded and grown over the years, it now comprises of 69 events, but the one that matters is the Main Event, or as it has become known, The Main.The 2016 WSOP commences on Wednesday 1st June, and by tradition, it starts in a very odd way - an event in which entry is restricted to casino employees. You may well wonder how that works, in the same way as we wonder how the snowplough driver gets to work after overnight snow, so youd perhaps be surprised to learn that last years renewal attracted a whopping 688 runners, and if recent trends are anything to go by, that will increase this year.Once that is out of the way, June 2nd sees the start of the well-named Colossus, which last year saw no less than 22,374 hopefuls all stumping up $565. Can you even begin to imagine the logistics of a 22,000 runner live poker event? For starters, how many chairs, tables, packs of cards, dealers and poker chips will they need?Lets look at that another way. When the dust settles, and one player remains, how many chips will he have in front of him or her? The answer is at least 110,000,000. To save you counting those noughts, thats 110 million chips. From there, it moves on, and every known format of poker has its own WSOP event, often several at different price points. You may think that poker is poker, but there is a bewildering array of formats these days. The daddy of them all, and far and away the most popular, is No Limit Holdem, aka Texas, or simply NLH. Add to that Limit Holdem, Omaha, Omaha 8 or better, Razz, 2-7 Tripple Draw Lowball, Seven Card Stud, High Low Stud, Dealers Choice, H.ddddddddddddO.R.S.E., Eight Game Mix, and a few others, and you get the idea. Then add events restricted to Ladies, Seniors, even Super Seniors, 9 handed, 8 handed, 6 handed, 4 handed, Heads Up (2 handed), and you get the picture. This is the business, where poker is defined, where we get to see the real champions.Its truly global, too - in 2015, 111 different nations were represented. Can you even name 111 different countries? In total, 103,512 players played the 2015 WSOP, and we can reasonably expect that number to increase again, as it does every year, in 2016.Quite the occasion then.Whilst the vast majority of players are regular guys like you and I, it also includes the pro players, and celebrities galore, with many stars of stage, screen and sports taking part.Historically, the big names associated with the WSOP are guys like Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, and, fingers crossed, if his ailing health permits, the grand-daddy of them all, Doyle Brunson.Doyle is 82 now, and a little frail, as you may expect, but when he trundles into the Rio cardroom in his mobility scooter, the place erupts. Poker is not known for deference to elders, but Doyle, aka Texas Dolly, is recognized as the most influential man in poker, and the original author of pokers most influential textbook Super System. He has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name - rather oddly, WSOP winners get a bracelet of all things, in addition to a wheelbarrow full of cash. Even more remarkably, he won the WSOP Main in successive years with the same hand, which, arguably, is one of the worst hands in poker, 10-2. On both occasions, in 76 and 77, his 10-2 became a full house, one of the very best hands in poker.The WSOP originally took place in the wonderfully named Binions Gambling Hall, and later moved across to the Rio All-Suite Hotel. Binions is Downtown, on Fremont Street, and exists to this day. Its tired and rundown, almost a health hazard in fact, but if you ever get to Las Vegas, you have to go to Binions and play a little poker, the place reeks of poker tradition and history.So there it is, the WSOP in a nutshell.If any of that tickles your fancy, Ill be there, as always, and during the coming weeks, maybe Ill send back a story or two from what is, in the world of poker, the greatest event on Earth, bar none. So bookmark this page, and the WSOP tales of derring do, or, in my case, not so derring do, will follow. Vicarious Vegas is the next best thing to being there, but really, if you can get there, you should.Remember Clarksons voice, eh? The WSOP - the greatest poker event in the WORLDDDDDD. ' ' '