Canadian Zach Edey turning heads with start to NBA career with Memphis Grizzlies

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

********* Zach Edey turning heads with start to NBA career with Memphis Grizzlies

********* NBA rookie Zach Edey is living up to his advanced billing as just nine games into his NBA career, the Memphis Grizzlies centre scored 25 points and 11 boards on Monday night.

Both are careers highs for the seven-foot-four-inch rookie, although his team fell short to the Brooklyn Nets by a score of 106-104.

Edey, who was selected ninth overall in the 2024 NBA Entry Draft, is currently the favourite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Zach Edey blocks Schroder and then… hits a walkup three???

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— eric (@EricTweetsNBA)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Story continues below advertisement

Fanduel has Edey’s odds at +380, just ahead of Washington Wizards rookie Carlton Carrington (+500) who was selected with the 14^th pick in last June’s draft.

The top two picks in last June’s draft, Alexandre Sarr, who was selected second by the Hawks,  and Zaccharie Risacher, who went first overall to the Atlanta Hawks, are the only other players with odds currently below 10-1.

Monday night’s output was a far cry from his opening game of the season, as he fouled out of the Grizzlies’ opener against the Utah Jazz in just 14 minutes of playing time.

Zach Edey is the only player since the NBA-ABA merger to start his NBA debut but foul out after playing 15 minutes or less.

The Grizzlies still won the game, 126-124.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The quick exit set a new standard according to Opta Stats, as the Toronto native became the first player since the NBA-ABA merger to foul out so quickly.

Story continues below advertisement

Edey, who was drafted by the Grizzlies out of Purdue, joined Memphis after being named Naismith College Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

He was the first player to do so since legendary Houston centre Ralph Sampson did so in 1982 and 1983. Sampson went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1984.

Prior to playing college basketball in the state of Indiana, Edey spent a couple of years at the IMG Academy in Florida.

More on Sports
More videos

He ended up in Florida upon the recommendation of his AAU coach Vidal Massiah, who coached him for three years when he was a member of the Northern Kings.

Massiah and the Northern Kings have helped develop more than 100 players to U.S. colleges to play basketball.

Massiah, who also played Division 1 NCAA for St. Bonaventure, said that he helped him with plans for schooling to achieve his success.

Trending Now

• The ‘third scenario’ preoccupying Canada’s government as the U.S. votes

• Donald Trump will be the winner of the U.S. election: AP

“I kind of understood kind of where he was at and maybe what would be good for him,” he explained. “So we helped him formulate a plan to get him to where he is at.”

Based out of Pickering, Massiah says that all of the current Northern Kings are excited by Edey’s achievements.

Story continues below advertisement

“Our entire program is super proud of him and all the kids in the program that are coming behind him are super inspired as well as our families,” he said.

Edey’s big showing on Monday night has also caught the attention of a number of people who follow the NBA closely.

Zach Edey is becoming a seriously impactful interior defender already. His length is a serious deterrent.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Only appropriate that on the night college basketball returned, Zach Edey delivered the best game yet this season by an NBA rookie.

25pts (11-12 FG, 1-1 3pt), 12reb, 4blk

Rapid progression, on both ends + with his body, has continued for Edey.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— Adam Finkelstein (@AdamFinkelstein)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Story continues below advertisement

Vidal thinks this is just the beginning for his former student.

“I think he is going to continue to surprise people and turn heads,” he said.

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#********* #Zach #Edey #turning #heads #start #NBA #career #Memphis #Grizzlies

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up