The Memphis Grizzlies are trying to get back to the top of the Western Conference. After a difficult 2023-24 campaign where the team was absolutely annihilated by injuries, Memphis has its core back and largely healthy. And on top of that, the team made one of the more interesting picks in the 2024 NBA Draft when it selected Purdue center Zach Edey with the ninth overall pick.
Memphis had a gigantic hole at center, and are turning to Edey — the 7’4 two-time national college player of the year from Purdue — to fill it. While there are concerns about his ability to keep up with guards on the perimeter, Edey’s size, scoring touch, rim protection, and rebounding are all undeniable, to the point that Kevin Garnett decided to bestow a nickname onto him during the latest episode of Ticket and the Truth: Zach Alcindor.
“Who you like early on in the preseason?” Garnett asked his co-host, Paul Pierce. “Man, listen, I got one. I don’t know what we gonna call him for the whole year, but Zach Edey? Look like god damn Zach Alcindor.”
Garnett went on to compare Edey to Yao Ming, then praised him for his performance against the Indiana Pacers, where Garnett said that he took it to Myles Turner and compared Edey’s performance to what it looks like when Pierce plays against his son in the backyard. In the end, both hosts ended up agreeing that the Grizzlies are a team to watch as the season plays out.