When asked why he chose to play through the finish line in Summer League action, Cameron Boozer said exactly what fans want to hear.
The Memphis Grizzlies fell short in their pursuit of the 2026 Las Vegas Summer League title, but they left it all on the floor and have a lot to feel good about heading into the 2026-27 season.
Resting key players is a common practice in the late stages of Summer League play, but the Grizzlies gave their guys a chance to finish what they started. That included No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer, who appeared in a whopping eight Summer League games overall for Memphis (six in Las Vegas and two in Salt Lake City).
When asked why he chose to play through the finish line in Summer League action, Boozer said the Grizzlies came to win a championship and that he loves playing high-intensity hoops.
Boozer took just one game off during Summer League play. It came in Salt Lake City before Memphis began its run in Las Vegas. He played in all six games in Vegas, including multiple back-to-backs.
Across his eight total appearances this summer, Boozer averaged 18.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. He had 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the title game.
Fellow Summer League star Cedric Coward, who was a Rookie of the Year candidate for the Grizzlies in the 2025-26 season, also played in all six games in Las Vegas, as did a number of other Memphis players. The squad approached Summer League play with a level of intensity that isn't always there around the league, and that can only be seen as a phenomenal sign moving forward for the Grizzlies.
The championship game was a bit of a heartbreaker for Memphis, as the team had the lead late in the fourth quarter before the Golden State Warriors took control with a late push. It went down as a 94-90 loss for the Grizzlies, a sour end to an otherwise quite promising summer.
If his lone season at Duke wasn't enough, Boozer certainly provided further confirmation during Summer League play that he is a player the Grizzlies can feel good about as a franchise cornerstone moving forward. The 19-year-old, who took home just about every award imaginable with the Blue Devils, came to play in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, and now, he can start getting ready for the start of his rookie season.
