As the Miami Heat lost to the New York Knicks last Wednesday night, they look to bounce back against the Washington Wizards, though it won’t be at their arena or even the Kaseya Center. The Heat will travel to Mexico for the contest against their opponent as it will no doubt be a special moment for star Jaime Jaquez Jr. who has ties to the country.
Being Mexican-American, Jaquez has expressed how proud he is of his heritage time and time again, which will be exemplified Saturday night when he plays basketball in the North American country. The 23-year old expressed how “excited” he is to perform his passion in Mexico according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Jaquez said. “It’s going to be exciting. I’m excited, I know the team is, as well. We’re ready to go down and put on a great show, help grow the game of basketball as best as we can and hopefully inspire some fans along the way.”
Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. on his “ultimate goal” in Mexico
If there is one thing Jaquez wants to do during the weekend besides helping the Heat to beat the Kyle Kuzma-less Wizards to bring them to 3-2 on the season, his “ultimate goal” is to display the game of basketball and hopefully inspire others.
“I think my ultimate goal is to share the game I love with people around the world,” Jaquez, said. “I know it speaks loud to people knowing that I have Mexican heritage and to be able to play down there in front of all those fans, especially those young kids. It’s going to be inspiring for them just to be able to see that. Hopefully we get a new generation, a new wave of great Mexican, Latino basketball players who want to follow this and pursue it as their passion.”
Jaquez already makes an impact with the Heat as he’s in the midst of his second season in the NBA, his heritage does make him somewhat of a rarity in the league. He is only the sixth player in NBA history to have Mexican citizenship per The Miami Herald and the first with that to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. on his popularity in Mexico
As Jaquez has improved with the Heat, it goes back from his four years with UCLA being from California as while his mother has Norwegian heritage, his father is from Guadalajara which is roughly a seven-hour drive from Mexico City, where the game is. He would express to Chiang that his father’s side has a lot of family members living in Mexico.
“Man, on my dad’s side? Probably more than I can count,” Jaquez said when asked how much family he has living in Mexico. “There’s a lot of people. He’s got so many cousins and aunts and uncles, and they got kids and cousins. I don’t even know half of them.”
While the Heat deal with injuries to their bench, Jaquez could be in line for a huge workload in Mexico City where the team is for sure seemed as the fan favorites due to the forward’s background. One would think he is already a bonafide star in Mexico since as said before, there is a very short list of players with Mexican citizenship and judging by his rookie season, he could be the best.
“I have no idea, if I’m being honest,” Jaquez said on how famous he is Mexico because of basketball. “I’ve been down to Mexico before, I’ve been to airports and been recognized. I would say it’s a lot like [Miami]. Sometimes you get people who recognize you, sometimes you don’t. We’ll see what it’s like when we get down there. But I’m looking forward to seeing.”
Jaime Jaquez Jr. bringing a home crowd for the Heat in Mexico
In his rookie season, Jaquez was selected to back to back Eastern Conference rookie of the month honors as well as making it on the NBA All-Rookie first team. He averaged 12.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from three-point range in his first year, looking to solidify his role as the sixth man in his sophomore campaign.
Jaquez has played for Mexico’s national team at one point which was in “the Pan American Games as a dual citizen when he was 19 years old before switching his international allegiance.” Meaning that this past summer, he was technically a part of Team USA for the Paris Olympics as he was on the select team which helps prepare for the competitive team for success, which they did as they won gold which involved Miami’s Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra.
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During the festivities in Mexico with the NBA, the country will be celebrating “Dia de los Muertos” which is the Day of the Dead holiday which ends Saturday, the night of the game. According to an NBA press release when they announced the special game, “The ‘Dia de los Muertos’ theme will be showcased as part of a variety of in-arena activations during the game, including a specially themed basketball court, and through the league’s fan engagement initiatives around the game.”
“I’ve never been in Mexico when that’s happened,” Jaquez said of celebrating the holiday while in Mexico. “So I’m actually really excited to see how they all celebrate down in Mexico. I’ve never been down there to see it, so I’m excited to see how it all goes.”
Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. looks to head a second unit and team to victory
As Jaquez leads an ignitable Heat bench, he looks to display that Saturday in Mexico as through the first four games of the young season, he has averaged 9.8 points, seven rebounds, 2.8 assists and one steal per game while shooting 39.4 percent from the field. He should be prepared to speak a lot of Spanish when he is in Mexico, but do not blame him if he messes up here and there with the language.
“I’m going to try my best,” Jaquez said to The Miami Herald. “I’m going to give it my all. Sorry if I mess up. But yeah, I’m going to try.”
At any rate, the Heat are 2-2 and look to bounce back and start a streak beginning Saturday against the Wizards in Mexico City before returning home Monday to host the Sacramento Kings.