Zach Edey says ‘I will let my presence be felt’ if he sees disrespect on the court

Memphis Grizzlies rookie big man Zach Edey made some recent comments that suggest he will not shy away if he feels that he or his teammates are being slighted in some way on the court.

“That’s how I play,” Edey said. “My emotions come out from competing. I’m never going to be the one to start the trash talk or initiate something, but if something is happening on the court that I don’t appreciate, I will let my presence be felt.”

Edey made his Summer League debut a few days ago against the Utah Jazz and put up gaudy numbers despite the fact that he went up against one of the better young big men in the league in Walker Kessler. In over 33 minutes of action, he dropped 14 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Impressively, he seemingly outplayed Kessler, who totaled 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor to go along with six rebounds, two assists, two steals and five blocks.

But Edey’s double-double wasn’t enough to lead the Grizzlies to a win, as the Jazz won the game in overtime by a score of 97-95 behind a big scoring game from Keyonte George, who scored a game-high 30 points and knocked down 17 of his 19 attempts from the free-throw line.

The Grizzlies have a Summer League game in Las Vegas against the Sacramento Kings slated for Friday, but Edey will not take the floor for Memphis due to an ankle injury.

The 7-foot-4 big man was selected by the Grizzlies with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after a dominant season playing college basketball at Purdue University. Across 39 games played with the Boilermakers during the 2023-24 college basketball season, he averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 blocks per contest.

Edey nearly led Purdue to a national title in his swan song with the Boilermakers, considering the program reached the title game in the NCAA Tournament but lost to the University of Connecticut by 15 points on college basketball’s grandest stage.

The 22-year-old’s Summer League performance against the Jazz earlier in the month indicates that he could have a long and successful NBA career ahead of him, and hopefully he will prove to be an ideal fit alongside the likes of Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart in Memphis.