Johnny Juzang certainly made a name for himself in his first year with the UCLA Bruins. While his season has now come to a bitter end thanks to that dagger of a shot from Gonzaga Bulldogs star Jalen Suggs, the Vietnamese-American swingman’s NBA stock is at an all-time high right now.
Apart from his seemingly NBA-ready game, fans and pundits are quite enamored by Juzang’s unique ethnic background.
Today, we’ll be digging up what we can on the UCLA star’s roots, as we look into everything we know about Johnny Juzang’s parents and siblings.
Johnny Juzang is born to biracial parents
Johnny Juzang was born and raised in the United States and pretty much lived in Los Angeles, California in his entire life.
His unique look, however, comes from his mixed ethnic heritage. The 20-year-old UCLA star’s father Maxie Juzang is an American of Creole descent. Creole, in itself, is considered a mixed-race of African and European.
His mother, Hanh Payton-Juzang, is Vietnamese.
Maxie is reportedly the CEO of a Healthcare Staffing Company, while Hanh works as a successful financial advisor.
Johnny has two siblings
Turns out, Johnny is the middle child in the Juzang household. His older brother Christian also played college ball as a point guard for the Harvard Crimson.
While he did not achieve the same level of collegiate success that his brother had, Christian managed to pursue a professional career playing basketball overseas in the Vietnam Basketball Association.
He even surprised Johnny earlier this month, traveling all the way from Vietnam to the Bruins star's hotel in Indianapolis just to see his little brother play in March Madness.
Now that's a heartwarming moment …@JohnnyJuzang had a surprise waiting for him outside the team's downtown hotel on Friday.#GoBruins | #MarchMadness | @marchmadness pic.twitter.com/XOK5iyFpOo
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) April 3, 2021
Judging by this Instagram post, Johnny also has a strong relationship with his youngest sister, Lauren.
View this post on Instagram
Juzang was born to ball
Juzang is obviously blessed with good genes as he grew to 6-foot-6. He’s always been around basketball for most of his life, developing a passion for the sport since childhood.
With hard work and willingness to improve, Juzang made the most of his physical gifts and developed into the complete player that he is today.
By high school, it was apparent that Juzang was something special, leading the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles in several categories by his junior year. He recorded 23 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game during that stretch. College scouts soon took notice when he won Mission League MVP that year.
Despite a lackluster one-year stint for the Kentucky Wildcats, it did not deter Juzang’s spirit as he transferred to UCLA. The rest, as we now know it, is history.
He led the Bruins to its first Final Four appearance in 13 years. The last time UCLA made it this far, they still had NBA superstars Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook in uniform.
Even in defeat against the Zags, Juzang showed that he truly has a bright future ahead of him. He scored a game-high 29 points, along with six rebounds and two assists in 45 minutes in the semifinal against Gonzaga. His clutch gene was evident all throughout, hitting crucial buckets to force that overtime period.
Had that now controversial offensive foul not been called on Juzang, UCLA is likely the team Finals bound right now.
Juzang even managed to tie the ball game with 3.3 seconds in OT after cleaning up his own miss. Jalen Suggs, however, put an end to Juzang and the Bruins' Cinderella story with that cold-blooded game-winner.
Nevertheless, we'll be hearing a lot more from Johnny Juzang in the next few years.
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