Through nearly two weeks of NBA action, the biggest surprise may be the lone undefeated team atop the league standings.
The Memphis Grizzlies, who finished just 25-57 last season, are 6-0, own one of the league’s top offenses and defenses, and have a league-best scoring differential of 15.2 points per game.
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Naturally, fans might be wondering how?
While Memphis was one of the NBA’s worst clubs by win-loss record last season, there are caveats there as well.
The Grizzlies were without former stars Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. for large portions of 2025-26, before dealing both between the trade deadline (sending Jackson to Utah) and the offseason (when Morant was sent to Portland).
With the team actively tanking under the league’s previous rules as well, there was limited incentive to win games when Memphis saw their ceiling as little more than 10th or 11th place in the Western Conference. So those 25 wins could’ve looked more like 30-35 if applying full effort night to night.
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To that end, Ty Jerome was on the roster last season, but played just 15 games. This year, he’s the Grizzlies’ leading scorer at 25.8 points per game – 10th in the league – and is playing career-high minutes as part of an efficient and dynamic offense.
Cedric Coward was also artificially held back a bit by the nature of last year’s roster, though he did average 13.6 points per game.
This year, the second-year player is putting up similar points per game (13.4) so far, but with with 2.7 more rebounds per game, more steals, fewer turnovers, and more efficient shooting from the floor and from three (hitting two-thirds of his shots from beyond the arc).
What helps the existing talent on the roster synthesize better, however, are some of the offseason’s big additions.
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Isaiah Stewart, one of the motors powering the Detroit Pistons’ resurgence over the last few years, has been impressive right off the bat in Memphis.
Despite playing fewer minutes per game thus far (just 18.2 versus 22.7 last year), “Beef Stew” is averaging career-highs in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free throw percentage. He’s also teamed with the Grizzlies’ strong group of forwards to shut down opponents near the basket.
To that point, Cameron Boozer has been a revelation on both sides of the ball. The rookie has averaged 17.3 points 10.5 boards per game, to go with 5.7 steals and 0.7 blocks, while adeptly staying out of foul trouble.
His immediate emergence is the catalyst for what Memphis has been able to be through six games: Physical and efficient, much in the way that the Grizzlies rallied around “Grit and Grind” in the past. But also, a team that’s playing with pace and shooting well from all parts of the floor while forcing teams outside of their comfort zones on both ends.
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Boozer will inevitably meet some sort of resistance this season. But the way he’s come flying out of the gate already puts him on the Rookie of the Year shortlist and establishes a team-wide identity that can potentially withstand a down stretch from him, should it happen.
That’s the big question, especially given the small sample size so far, along with the limited experience most of the Grizzlies’ key contributors have (at least as major pieces of a contending team’s roster).
Memphis is 6-0, and four of those wins have come on the road, which is a feather in the team’s cap. However, it’s worth noting that four of those wins are against Utah and Sacramento, who are a combined 1-11 to-date and are currently sitting in the cellar of the Western Conference.
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At the same time, they beat a 4-1 Portland team by 19 on the road, and are beating worse teams by significant margins at a point in the season when blowouts can be harder to come by as squads (and especially younger squads) get into rhythm.
This week’s games should at least start to answer questions around just how real this all is for Memphis, though.
After games against a struggling New Orleans team on Monday, they’ll host the injured Pacers on Wednesday before a home date with the also-banged-up Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. Getting through that stretch unscathed would not only bring the Grizzlies to 9-0, but hand them one of the season’s bigger wins so far, with OKC.
It’s a long season, but an unbeaten record is an unbeaten record. And if Memphis can get to 9-0, that’s the sort of start that provides a cushion to withstand the inevitable slowdown for any young team.
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If they don’t slow down, though, the Grizzlies could upend assumptions in the Western Conference race, especially as other contenders are already seeing injuries become a factor.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com
