Photo: Arthur Holmes/Getty Images
What was almost a fact for days finally came true and is that Jaime Jáquez Jr. has arrived in the NBA on Thursday night at the being drafted by the Miami Heatbecoming the fourth Mexican selected in the NBA Draft after Eduardo Nájera, Manuel Raga and Albert Almanza.
Jáquez Jr. is a graduate of UCLA and ends up fulfilling a dream that many took for granted that it would end up being fulfilled. The Mexican-American player arrived at the ceremony with great confidence, in a suit and with dark glasses, ready for the opportunity to hear that his name would join the history of the best basketball in the world.
He also became the first Mexican chosen in the Draft since the year 2000, when Eduardo Nájera suffered the same fate.. Now the man born in Irvine and raised in Camarillo, California, and of Mexican roots, will have the opportunity to carry the tricolor flag to the best basketball in the world, that flag that he has decided to represent at the national team level due to the commitment he feels to his Latino heritage. and even more, with his Mexican race.
For Jáquez it has been a doubly sweet moment, since he had declared that Jimmy Butler, the superstar of the Heat, is his favorite player. Miami played the NBA Finals in previous weeks. The Mexican was drafted in the first round with pick 18.
It is important to remember that other Mexicans such as Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez and Juan Toscano-Anderson reached the NBA through free agency. Now Jáquez Jr. has to show what he has in a team that seems perfect for him, being a player who plays with great hardness and tenacity, who never gives up, in the style of the Heat.
In the last NCAA campaign, “Triple J”, as he is also known, averaged more than interesting numbers with UCLA, including 17.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 assistsNow it’s time to transfer those numbers to the best basketball in the world.
His dream of reaching the NBA has already come true, now he lacks the other, to be able to represent Mexico in the Olympic Games, something that he will surely achieve, for now to celebrate his promotion to the best basketball on the planet.
Those chosen by the Lakers and the Clippers
On this iconic NBA draft day, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Jalen Hood-Schifinowho at 19 years old comes from averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, during his last season at Indiana University.
Chosen with Pick number 17, Jalen will play alongside LeBron James and the point guard is expected to follow the legacy of the lagoon quintet.
for his part Los Angeles Clippers selected Kobe Brown who comes from averaging 20.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game with Missouri. In addition, his name was selected in honor of the legendary Kobe Bryant and today he will be a player in the city’s rival team.
Keep reading:
. Jaime Jáquez Jr. understands how great it would be to reach the NBA, but he does not forget his dream of representing Mexico in the Olympic Games
. Jaime Jáquez Jr. understands how great it would be to reach the NBA, but he does not forget his dream of representing Mexico in the Olympic Games
. “This is my dream”: Jaime Jáquez Jr., the basketball player who has the spirit of a Mexican boxer and who wants to inspire many Latinos