Karim López makes NBA debut, plays 2:33 for the Grizzlies
The Sonora native checked in late in a game already decided. He missed his only shot, a three-pointer, and grabbed one offensive rebound.
Karim López made his NBA debut on Thursday night at the Moda Center in Portland, playing 2:33 as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Trail Blazers 124-103, according to the official box score.
He checked in with the game already settled. His only shot was a three-pointer that missed, and he pulled down one offensive rebound. Memphis was outscored by a point while he was on the floor. Kris Murray, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Taylor Hendricks logged the same 2:33 in garbage time. The Grizzlies improved to 5-0.
López, a Sonora native taken in the first round of the 2026 draft, had not played an official game this season. A bruised right knee kept him out of the first four, including the Oct. 21 opener against Utah. His only action with the club before Thursday came in the preseason and the July Summer League, which do not count as a debut.
He is the seventh Mexican to play in the NBA, by the count most used in Mexico, after Eduardo Nájera, Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson. Counting only players born in Mexico, he is the fifth: Toscano-Anderson and Jaquez Jr. were both born in the United States.
Memphis is unbeaten through five games.
