Grizzlies open the season honoring Brandon Clarke: ‘We’re going to play our hearts out for Brandon’

The Memphis Grizzlies open their season on Wednesday night the way they said they would back in September: with a tribute to Brandon Clarke. Before the Utah Jazz tip off at FedExForum, the team will play a video for Clarke and hold a moment of silence, and the players will wear a “BC” patch on their jerseys for the rest of the 2026-27 season.

Clarke died in May at 29. He spent all seven of his NBA seasons in Memphis. At shootaround on Wednesday morning, two of the players who shared a locker room with him said the night would be hard, and that they plan to answer it the only way they know.

“It’ll be emotional for sure,” Cam Spencer said. “Obviously, it will be an emotional start to the game. But Coach talked about it, we’re going to play our hearts out for Brandon as he would want us to. Every time Brandon stepped on the floor, he gave it everything he had, and I just want to try to honor him in that way. It’ll put life in perspective pretty quickly, but we’ll be playing hard for Brandon this year for sure.”

Sounds from Shootaround: Scotty Pippen Jr. + Cam Spencer

◾️Tonight's game against the Jazz
◾️Taking on Jaren Jackson Jr.
◾️Remembering and playing for Brandon Clarke

🎥: @MyMikeCheck pic.twitter.com/JgdyPy4axi

— Grind City Media (@grindcitymedia) October 21, 2026

‘A brother to us all’

Scotty Pippen Jr. described Clarke as one of the people who made the Grizzlies’ locker room what it was. “A lot of emotions,” Pippen said. Clarke, he said, was “someone that was enjoying the locker room, a brother to us all.” He added: “I think it’s special that we get to celebrate his life, and it’s not only tonight, it’s throughout this whole season and going forward as well.”

He did not pretend it would be easy. “I miss him as well, and it definitely hurts a lot,” Pippen said. “So just to see it again tonight, I guess, will bring back a lot of emotions.”

The club first announced its plans on September 19, the day Clarke would have turned 30. “Today, on his birthday, we remember BC,” the Grizzlies said then. “He will continue to remain at the heart of Grizz Nation. We will honor his memory together with a pre-game tribute and moment of silence on Opening Night and a BC jersey patch throughout the season.”

Jaren Jackson Jr. in the building

The timing adds another layer. The opponent is Utah, and that means Jaren Jackson Jr. is back at FedExForum for the first time since Memphis traded him to the Jazz on February 3 in an eight-player deal. Jackson and Clarke were close friends and teammates for most of Clarke’s time in Memphis.

Asked about that friendship on Wednesday, Jackson kept it short. “It was everything,” he said. “It was everything. That’s all I’ll say.”

Spencer noticed the timing too. “I don’t know if it’s a sign, but having Jaren come back, obviously he was very close with Brandon, so I think that’ll be a cool thing for him,” he said.

Once the ball goes up, Jackson is an opponent, and both Grizzlies guards said they are ready for that part too. “It’ll be weird at first,” Spencer said. “I had two years with Jaren, great teammate, great person. It’s unique because playing with him for two years you feel like you know his game, but he still has some unguardable things within it, so it’ll be fun to match up against him.” Pippen expects Jackson to come in looking for a big night against his old team. “I think we’re going to be ready for him,” he said. “We have a good game plan.”

Seven seasons in Memphis

Clarke came to the Grizzlies on draft night in 2019. Oklahoma City took him 21st overall out of Gonzaga and traded his rights to Memphis, the same summer the Grizzlies drafted Ja Morant second. Both made the All-Rookie First Team in 2020, and Clarke became a fixture of the young Memphis teams that climbed to the top of the West, scoring inside, running the floor and protecting the rim off the bench. The club signed him to a contract extension in October 2022.

Injuries cut into the back half of his career. He tore his left Achilles tendon on March 3, 2023, against Denver, and played only 72 of a possible 246 games over his final three seasons, including two in 2025-26. He finished with averages of 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds over 309 regular-season games, and 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds on 61.3 percent shooting in 14 playoff games.

The Grizzlies team that takes the floor on Wednesday looks very different from the one Clarke joined. Memphis went 25-57 last season under Tuomas Iisalo, Morant now plays in Portland, and the rookie class includes third overall pick Cameron Boozer. Utah will also debut No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CT, which is 3 a.m. Thursday in Cairo. The tribute comes before it.