It was a great night for the Miami Heat Sunday as they picked up the win against the Charlotte Hornets, but also celebrated the legacy left by basketball legend Dwyane Wade as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year. Wade would speak to the media at halftime and spoke briefly about rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., who has been a major standout this season according to Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel.
“First of all, Jaime is a baller,” Wade said. “Let's just start there. I'm proud to be able to watch the game of basketball. To watch the Heat and see Bam do what he's doing and become the player he's becoming, become the leader he's becoming. Here to see Duncan doing what he's doing, and J-Rich, guys that you had something with their journey. I'm like a proud papa in that case.”
There is an argument to be made that Jaquez has been the best Heat first-year player since Wade as both made a huge impact in their rookie season. When the UCLA product learned that Wade had complimented him, he would respond that he wants to make him “proud.”
“He’s a guy I want to make proud,” Jaquez said. “It’s his organization, it’s his team in Dade County. So anything, any compliment from him means a lot.”
Jaquez calls Wade one of his favorite players
It was announced at halftime by President of the Heat and basketball icon Pat Riley that Wade would be getting an eight-foot tall statue outside the Kaseya Center. Jaquez spoke about Wade getting that moment for himself and about the Hall of Famer being a player he looked up to, even when he grew up on the other side of the country.
“Even being on the West Coast, he’s one of my favorite players of all time,” Jaquez said. “And just to be able to have this moment and get this win for him on this special night is big.”
Despite great day for Heat, wasn't the best for Jaquez
However, Jaquez could not be out at halftime for the festivities as he suffered from a groin strain in the first half in the win to the Hornets. He was on pace for a career-best day as he scored 15 points in the first period alone.
“I wish I could have been out there for halftime,” Jaquez said. “But I was in the back working on my groin. But I mean, Dwyane Wade getting a statue, no guy deserves it more than him, a big inspiration to me growing up.”
Jaquez has won back to back Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards where in the month of December, he has averaged 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 84.9 percent from the foul line. An eye-opening statistic that the absence of Jaquez will impact is that he had played 315.8 fourth quarter minutes when he won the award, which was the most in the entire NBA.
Miami is 23-16 heading into Monday's contest against the Nets which puts them at fifth in the Eastern Conference. Entering Sunday's game against Charlotte, they were close to the bottom at the seventh seed.
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