Canadian 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.
Fanduel has Edey’s odds at +380, just ahead of Washington Wizards rookie Carlton Carrington (+500) who was selected with the 14th 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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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