'I Only Fear God,' Grizzlies' Cedric Coward Discusses If He Worries About Hitting 'Rookie Wall'

Memphis Grizzlies guard Cedric Coward says he isn't afraid of hitting "a wall" down the stretch of his rookie season.

"No," Coward said when asked Thursday about the possibility, per Drew Hill of the Daily Memphian. "I only fear God."

Coward, the No. 11 pick of the 2025 draft, went from the Portland Trail Blazers to the Grizzlies as a draft-day trade.

He has averaged 14 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists through the first 37 games and 24 starts of his NBA career.

"The rookie wall is one of those things where you, if it comes, it comes. If it doesn't, it doesn't," Coward said Thursday. "For me it's, I just try it one game at a time, one practice at a time. Just try to keep my consistent routine. People always tell me the greatest players are the ones that are consistently good. For me, it's just trying to be as consistent as possible. Learn from my mistakes.

"There's going to be games where— and I've already had some this year— games that weren't so good, games that went really well. And for me, it's just to keep building."

Coward started out his college career at DIII Willamette University before transferring for two season with Eastern Washington.

He joined Washington State ahead of the 2024-25 season, but played just six games of his senior campaign before suffering a season-ending injury.

The Grizzlies took a chance on him in the first round anyway. That paid off quickly when Coward posted 27 points in just his third NBA outing, an Oct. 25 win over the Indiana Pacers.

It took Coward just ten more games after that to earn a spot in the Grizzlies' lineup on Nov. 15. He has since started every game in which he's played for Memphis.

Coward's success has been in large part thanks to his shooting. He's making 55.7 percent of his shots from the field and 40 percent of his tries from deep, and he heads into Friday ranked sixth among NBA rookies in both field goals and three-pointers made.

Amid uncertainty regarding the future of Ja Morant, who hasn't played since Jan. 2 and whom ESPN's Shams Charania reported the Grizzlies have made available for a potential trade, Memphis could be hoping Coward will serve as a key piece of the team's young core going forward.