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As the Miami Heat face the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in a big matchup, it'll be surreal for rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. who said after the team's shoot-around Monday morning that it'll be a full-circle moment when he faces LeBron James. The 22-year-old forward out of UCLA said to ClutchPoints that it's an honor to face James ahead of the game tonight.
“I mean, I think if you're a fan of basketball, it's got to be on your bucket list to play against LeBron [James]. You know, one of the greatest players ever, all time leading scorer, the list goes on,” Jaquez said. “So, just to be able to play against him, especially at this time in his career, it's an honor, it really is. He's been in the league almost as long as I've been alive. So it's just crazy to even think that I'm able to play against him at this point.”
Caught up with Miami Heat’s rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. to ask him if it’ll be surreal to face LeBron James, finding a way to contain him, and the importance of playing with confidence.
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While James has the ability to go one-on-one with any position on the floor, there is a chance Miami's Jaquez and the Laker can cover one another. Jaquez said that it's obviously tough to defend a player like James even though he's been watching him for his entire career.
“I mean, I'm going to try my best, you know, it's basketball. I've been watching him for his entire career, I think everyone else has,” Jaquez said to ClutchPoints. “You see all that but it's still one thing watching it, it's another thing going on the court and trying to so we'll see what happens. I'll try to do what I can and go from there.”
Jaquez has stood out so far in the regular season as it goes beyond the numbers on the statistics page. He's showed off his offensive skills in limited time, especially as he drives hard to the paint or when Jaquez fakes out a defender to get an advantage. As far as his statistics go, he's averaging 5.3 points, three rebounds, and 18.1 minutes per game.
Jaquez keeping his confidence through the struggles
He has experienced adversity however as when he started in his first game of the season last Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets in place of the injured Kevin Love, he scored two points while missing all of his six three-point attempts.
On the other hand, he didn't let his bad shooting night effect him as he was disruptive on defense with two steals, one block, and was a +7 when he was on the floor. He said to ClutchPoints that confidence is important when playing basketball, especially when you're having a down night.
“Just got to keep shooting. You miss the first 10 shots and then you make the next 10, that's still 50%. So that's kind of the mentality that I'm going out with,” the Heat's Jaquez said. “I'm staying confident, my teammates and coaches still believe in me, and that gives me confidence moving forward.”
There's no doubt that the team has confidence in Jaquez to develop further as a player and there's no other organization better to learn in than with the Heat led by President Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Jaquez will look to continue to shine in his rookie season tonight against James and the Lakers as the Heat will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. (EST) at the Kaseya Center. After losing four straight games, the Heat bounced back with a win against the Washington Wizards and are looking to now build a winning streak off the in-season tournament debut.
