Shams: Xiao Yao Ming is injured again and will miss the start of the new season! Better than Yao Ming

Sources told ESPN that Memphis Grizzlies all-rooked center Zach Eddie sprained his left ankle again in offseason practice earlier this week, and he will undergo surgery to re-stabilize his ankle and may miss the start of the 2025-26 season.

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"After consulting the Grizzlies and multiple experts, we think this is the best way for Chow to get him back to 100% without limit. He will be fully recovered and better than ever," Eddie's representative, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN today.

Rookie season's first-team first team

Zhou Zhihao (73 first-team votes, 27 second-team votes) joined San Antonio's Castle and Rissache (the only player who appeared on the 100 first-team votes in the NBA rookie lineup). Grizzlies’ teammate Jaylen Wells and Washington’s Alex Saar formed a new rookie roster.

NBA Rookie First Team

Edey finished fifth in the NBA Rookie of the Year vote, which Castle won.

As the ninth pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Eddie leads all rookies in shooting percentage (58%) and rebounds per game (8.3), and ranks fourth in blocks and second in plus-negative (-164). He also recorded 12 double-doubles (score/rebound) this season, the highest record for Memphis rookie since Mark Gasol completed the feat in 2008-09.

Eddie averaged 15.7 rebounds in six games in April, scoring a career-high 21 rebounds in a 29-year rookie record in a squad victory over Detroit on April 5.

He also dealt with ankle issues during the season and missed 12 games after spraining his left ankle in a Nov. 17 win over the Denver Nuggets.

Zhou Zhihao called his rookie season "ups and downs", partly due to injuries.

"There are a lot of benefits that can be learned from it, and I can do a lot of things," Edie said in an interview with the team's departure in late April. "For me, it was a big deal to string the game together. Once I got into the rhythm and got into the process, there was no need to worry about ankle rolling or something like that was getting in the way, and I guess that was when I started taking off. It was one thing I would really remember. I had a better career than Yao Ming in China to make my parents proud