When Carmelo Anthony met Kevin Garnett outside the Celtics locker room a couple nights ago, nobody expected any actual violence to occur (despite Carmelo’s preference for Apple Jacks). But when Kendrick Perkins and Zach Randolph got into an on-court back-n-forth in mid November, and Zach told Perk he’d beat his ass by the bus, it felt like we might have a Superman vs. General Zod. Randolph doesn’t scare easily, even with Perk’s mean mug. But there is one thing that scares the power forward in Memphis, and it might surprise you.

One would think it would take a lot to scare Zach Randolph. He’s a big guy at 6-9 and 260 pounds, and he comes from a rough part of Marion, Indiana. He’s also no saint, finding enough trouble with the law over the years that we don’t need to list everything. After time with the Blazers, Clippers and the Knicks (for a year), Randolph finally seems to have found a home in Memphis where he has yet to be involved in any minor police incidents, and his little jab-step jumper and rebounding have proved perfect complements to Marc Gasol on Memphis’ back line. They beat a good Golden State Warriors team on the road last night.

One thing still sends sends him into a panic, though (besides Ruben Patterson after he punched him at practice). Cats. Yes, cats, or the Internet’s favorite house pet.

Randolph owns two Russian Terrier show dogs, and he’s about to get two more, so he’s a dog person through and through. He makes an appearance on the January 12 Animal Planet reality show: Pit Bulls and Parolees, about a Pit Bull from Memphis trapped in a drain. Randolph claims about the finished product, “It was an emotional experience.” But he’s of the opinion that dog lovers and cats lovers are mutually exclusive. He told ESPN’s Sam Alipour about his fear of cats:

“You can’t be both a dog lover and a cat lover. I’ve got a crazy phobia about cats. For some reason, I’m always thinking they’re going to scratch me. If a cat walks up, I’m going, ‘Oh no, this dude about to scratch me — I know it!’ Cats scare the hell out of me. I love animals, but I’m no cat lover. Guys usually aren’t.”

So there you are. Zach Randolph is afraid of cats, and their propensity to scratch (we’re deathly allergic, so we agree). It brings an alternative meaning to scaredy-cat.

What would you have guessed before reading this story?

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