Jahmai Mashack

Mashack was born on November 10, 2002, in Riverside, California. His father, Elton, was a first-team All-West Coast Conference (WCC) in basketball for the Loyola Marymount Lions, while his mother, Meika, competed in track and field for the UNLV Rebels. His older brother, Kwesi Mashack, played cornerback for the Arizona Wildcats from 2014 to 2017. His younger sister, Malika Mashack, like her mother, is currently on the track & field team at UNLV Rebels. At age four, he battled Guillain–Barré syndrome, which he recovered from but required years of physical therapy. He helped Etiwanda to the CIF Southern California Regional final as a junior and as a senior helped them to the title while being named the Cal-Hi Sports State Senior Player of the Year, the Baseline League Player of the Year and to the Los Angeles Times All-Star team. Ranked a four-star shooting guard prospect and a top-80 recruit nationally, he committed to playing college basketball for Tennessee. ==College career==

As a freshman for the Volunteers in 2021–22, Mashack appeared in 27 games while playing 4.6 minutes per game. He was part of the NCAA Tournament team as a freshman. He also started all three of Tennessee's NCAA Tournament games, averaging 6.7 points in those games. During his collegiate career, he won 109 games for the Volunteers, including nine in the NCAA Tournament, a team-record. The Knoxville News Sentinel described him as a "master at knowing an opponent's strengths and weaknesses offensively" and he was often tasked with guarding opponents' best players. In his last year, he ranked fourth nationally in Defensive Box Plus-Minus and was selected to the SEC All-Defensive team, as well as named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. In March 2025, he received Tennessee's Torchbearer award, the highest honor for school students. ==Professional career==

Mashack was selected by the Houston Rockets in the second round (59th overall) of the 2025 NBA draft, with his rights then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies from the Golden State Warriors via the Phoenix Suns, in a deal exchange for the draft rights to the 56th pick (Will Richard). He was the final selection in the draft. On November 16, the Grizzlies signed Mashack to a two-way contract. He made his NBA debut on November 20 against the Sacramento Kings, where he scored six points, and tallied up two rebounds in six minutes. On February 7, 2026, Mashack made his first career start against the Portland Trail Blazers, where he totaled eight points, a career-high of six steals, one rebound, and one assist in 30 minutes, additionally, this was the first game where Mashack had to play the center position due to the absence of players due to injury and the trade of Jaren Jackson Jr. Mashack converted 3-of-9 field goal attempts and 2-of-7 three-point attempts. On February 9, Mashack scored a career-high 17 points against the Golden State Warriors. On April 10, Mashack recorded a triple-double with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists in a 147–101 loss to the Utah Jazz. The performance marked as a career-high in rebounds and assists for Mashack. Mashack finished the season averaging 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. ==Player profile==

Mashack was widely regarded as one of the top defenders in college basketball during the 2024–25 season. He is known for his aggressive, anticipatory style of defense and frequently takes on the opposing team's most challenging assignments, demonstrating activity with both his hands and feet. While he is most effective guarding guards and smaller wings, he is also capable of defending larger players due to his anticipation and physical strength. Offensively, Mashack is not expected to play a central role. He is considered a capable three-point shooter but does not pose a significant scoring threat, and his ball-handling and playmaking abilities are adequate. ==Personal life==

In a sit-down interview with Grind City Media, Mashack is a big "NBA2K, friends, and family guy", and growing up as a kid, he was a big fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder especially when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were there, as those were one of his favorite players growing up, as he got older, he began to enjoy watching Kawhi Leonard, and Jrue Holiday a lot due to their defensive play style. ==Career statistics==