Cedric Coward says a bigger role will not change his approach, with the Grizzlies wing focused on making the right play instead of chasing shots.
Cedric Coward said Monday that selfishness is not part of his thinking going into his second season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Coward met with reporters at FedExForum for media day, the last stop before the team heads to Nashville for training camp at Belmont University.
As a rookie, Coward averaged 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 62 games, 47 of them starts. He played 25.8 minutes a night and shot 47.1% from the field, 33.8% from 3-point range, and 84.3% at the line.
Among qualified rookies, he ranked sixth in scoring, fourth in rebounding, and second in free-throw percentage. He scored in double figures 49 times and reached 20 points eight times. He finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting and made the All-Rookie First Team.
Coward Won't Chase Shots in Bigger Role
His plan for Year 2 is the same as it was for Year 1: go in and do what he can to help the team win.
"No, selfishness is never, like, in my mind at all," Coward said. "I think a lot of people see selfishness is just taking more shots, like, that's not, maybe taking more shots is the right basketball play, but like you just said, that's how I'm wired. I'm wired to make the right basketball play."
"If I'm getting doubled, it makes sense to get off the ball because we have an advantage somewhere," Coward continued. "If I'm getting to the mid-range or taking a three off a ball screen or whatever, a shot that I work on every day, and I'm not being guarded, it wouldn't be smart to get off the ball. It'd be smart to shoot it. So for me, say I'm a focal point, whatever it may be, I never see it as, OK, now I got to take this many shots a game. It's just I'm making the right basketball play."
In December, he set career highs with 28 points and 16 rebounds in 37 minutes. On Oct. 25, 2025, in his third NBA game, Coward scored 27 points and went 6-of-6 from 3-point range in a 128-103 win.
He averaged 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in six Las Vegas Summer League games in July and shot 43.4% from the field and 41.7% from deep. His 28 points against Houston in the semifinals were his high for the summer.
He also played two games in Salt Lake City, a year after a shoulder injury kept him out of Summer League entirely. The league put him on the All-Summer League Second Team.
Coward Still Sees Value in Post Game
Coward went to the post in the preseason last year, and teammates were not happy about it. He still believes it can be part of his game, but only when it fits within Tuomas Iisalo's offense.
"Eventually," Coward explained. "It's different when that's, like, because that was the way we played in college. That's just the advantage we had. Now the way Tuomas plays and how we play now is a lot different. So it's like you just find your strengths in other places. Now I'm not saying that I'm getting away from that, because I can definitely do it again. But it's all about the fit. How is it going to fit within offense? Because I'm not going to just break off a play and just start posting up for no reason, because I did that in the preseason and guys got mad at me."
"So it's just making sure that wherever I find my advantage, whether I'm being guarded by a small guy, because that's most of the time when it will happen, is then finding my advantage there and going to it," Coward added. "I think playing the Bulls here at home last year, I used that to end the game. And I just made decisions out of that because I was comfortable doing it."
Memphis had 11 players on the injury report when Chicago came to FedExForum on March 28. The game was tied at 120 inside the final 20 seconds when Coward posted up near the elbow against the smaller Tre Jones.
He drew a second defender and kicked the ball to Walter Clayton Jr., whose 3-pointer with 15.2 seconds left put Memphis ahead for good.
Coward added two free throws with 6.5 seconds to go in the 125-124 win. He finished with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting and 9 rebounds.
Coward Expects Year 2 Jump
Coward believes a jump is coming in Year 2, and consistency on both ends was the focus of his summer. His confidence comes from both his own belief and the support he feels from Memphis.
"Because I know who I am and what I'm capable of," Coward said. "And then also I have a team and coaches that believe in me and an organization that believes in me as well too."
Camp runs Tuesday through Oct. 2. Memphis opens the preseason Oct. 5 in Atlanta.
