Why is Zach Edey So Tall? Will he be a good NBA Player?
Why is Zach Edey so Tall?
Genetics, mostly. Edey’s mother, Julia, is 6’3″ and played basketball in Toronto, and height runs through the family. Nutrition and health in childhood decide whether a person reaches the height his genes allow, but they don’t add inches beyond that. The same is true of almost every 7-footer, as we explain in our piece on why basketball players are so tall.
Edey is listed at 7’3″ or 7’4″, depending on the source, and about 305 pounds. That makes him one of the tallest players in the NBA and one of the heaviest.
Zach Edey’s basketball career: Journey to Becoming a College Basketball Player
Edey was born in Toronto on May 14, 2002, and grew up playing hockey and baseball. He didn’t play organized basketball until grade 10 at Leaside High School. Within two years he had moved to IMG Academy in Florida, where he started on the school’s second-tier team before moving up to its national team.
He was a three-star recruit, which for a player his size tells you how raw he was. Purdue, a program with a long record of developing very tall centers, signed him over Baylor and Santa Clara. What happened next is one of the steepest improvement curves college basketball has seen:
| Season | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Blocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | 14.7 | 8.7 | 4.4 | 1.1 |
| 2021-22 | 19.0 | 14.4 | 7.7 | 1.2 |
| 2022-23 | 31.7 | 22.3 | 12.9 | 2.1 |
| 2023-24 | 32.0 | 25.2 | 12.2 | 2.2 |
As a junior he was the consensus National Player of the Year, and Purdue, a No. 1 seed, still lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. He came back for a senior year and won every major award again, the first player to take the Naismith in consecutive seasons since Ralph Sampson in the early 1980s. He led the country in scoring and carried Purdue to the national championship game, where he scored 37 points in a 75-60 loss to UConn.
He left as Purdue’s career leader in points (2,516) and rebounds (1,321).
Zach Edey next to the NBA's tallest
Listed heights, drawn to scale.
Show the data behind this chart
Person
Height
Centimeters
Avg NBA player
6'6.6"
200 cm
Zach Edey
7'3"
221 cm
Wembanyama
7'4"
224 cm
Yao Ming
7'6"
229 cm
Manute Bol
7'7"
231 cm
Zach Edey’s Height and Its Impact on His Game: Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages:
- Scoring at the rim. He catches the ball above everyone else on the floor. He shot 58% from the field as an NBA rookie.
- Rebounding. He grabbed 21 rebounds against Detroit in April 2025, a Memphis rookie record.
- Free throws. Defenders have to foul him, and unlike most giants he makes them: 71% as a rookie.
- Rim protection. He blocked seven shots in a playoff game against Oklahoma City in his first postseason.
Disadvantages:
- Defending in space. Opponents pull him away from the basket with pick-and-rolls and shooting big men, and he can’t always get back.
- Minutes. He averaged 21.5 a game as a rookie. Foul trouble and the pace of the NBA game both limit how long a 305-pound center can stay out there.
- Durability. This is the big one. He had surgery on his left ankle in June 2025, and the same ankle ended his second season.
The Purdue Boilermakers Basketball Team and Zach Edey’s Role
Purdue has won more Big Ten regular-season titles than any other school, and its alumni include John Wooden, Rick Mount and Glenn Robinson. What it has never done is win the NCAA tournament. Before Edey, its last Final Four was in 1980.
Coach Matt Painter built the whole offense around him: get the ball to Edey near the basket, surround him with shooters, and make the defense choose. The 2024 team got closer to a title than any Purdue team since 1969, which also lost the championship game.
Zach Edey, season by season
Per-game averages. Pick a stat; the best season is in orange.
Show the data behind this chart
| Season | Team | Games | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Purdue | 28 | 8.7 | 4.4 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| 2021-22 | Purdue | 37 | 14.4 | 7.7 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| 2022-23 | Purdue | 34 | 22.3 | 12.9 | 1.5 | 2.1 |
| 2023-24 | Purdue | 39 | 25.2 | 12.2 | 2 | 2.2 |
| 2024-25 | Memphis | 66 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 1 | 1.3 |
| 2025-26 | Memphis | 11 | 13.6 | 11.1 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
Can Zach Edey make it to the NBA?
He already has. The Memphis Grizzlies took him with the ninth pick of the 2024 draft, and the doubts about whether a slow, traditional center could play in the modern league faded quickly. As a rookie he averaged 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 66 games, started 55 of them and was named to the All-Rookie First Team.
His second season was better and much shorter. After ankle surgery he returned in the fall of 2025 and averaged 13.6 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, including a 32-point, 17-rebound, five-block night against Sacramento. He played only 11 games before the left ankle shut him down again, and in March 2026 the Grizzlies ruled him out for the rest of the season.
So the question has changed. It is no longer whether Edey is good enough for the NBA. It is whether his body will let him show it.
He has also played for Canada. He was the only college player on the team that won bronze at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Canada’s first medal at the event.
Comparing Edey and other NBA Greats
Zach Edey vs Shaq
Shaquille O’Neal was listed at 7’1″ and 325 pounds, so Edey is the taller of the two. That is where the comparison ends. Shaq was one of the most explosive athletes the league has seen at any size; Edey wins with positioning, touch and patience. What they share is that defenses foul them constantly, and Edey is by far the better free-throw shooter.
Zach Edey vs Yao Ming
This is the closer match. Yao was 7’6″ and about 310 pounds, scored with soft touch from the post, and made 83% of his free throws for his career. He is also the cautionary tale: foot and ankle injuries ended his career at 30.
Zach Edey vs Victor Wembanyama
They are almost the same height and almost opposite players. Wembanyama handles the ball, shoots threes and blocks shots all over the floor at around 235 pounds. Edey is about 70 pounds heavier and does his work within a few feet of the rim.
For every active 7-footer born in 2001 or later, Edey included, see our 7-Foot Prospect Database.
