What is Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s ethnicity? Looking at Heat's NBA draft 2023 pick's cultural roots

Jaime Jaquez Jr. is expected to take the league by storm with his impressive skillset, which he has showcased during his four-year stay at UCLA.

Jaquez was born in Irvine, California, but grew up in Camarillo and is of Mexican descent. His grandfather, Ezequiel, was the first to make it to the USA from Mexico. He excelled in basketball, which influenced his family to take up the sport. Jaquez Sr. also played college basketball for Concordia University.

Jaime is proud of his heritage and even played for Mexico's national basketball team in 2019. In the 2019 PAN American Games, Jaquez helped Mexico to a seventh-place finish. Even at a young age, he's shown dedication to his craft and heritage.

The Heat rookie had multiple chances to talk to Lorenzo Mata, who's also of Mexican descent. According to him, Mata shared a lot of wisdom in his journey as a Mexican basketball player.

Jaquez said:

"I've taken a lot from Lorenzo. I've talked to him many times and had the chance to play with him a little bit on the Mexican National Team."

"He just tried to tell me [to] take it slow, enjoy and understand that you're representing something that's bigger than yourself and try to be an inspiration for those kids that wanna look up to someone like me and want to play basketball. Mexicans, there's not a lot of them in the basketball world and a lot of them play soccer and baseball.

He continued:

"So, it's good for them to see someone like me and someone like Lorenzo, someone like Earl [Watson], from that heritage... showing we can do something else."

You might also be interested in reading this: Who are Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s parents, Angela and Jaime Jaquez Sr.? A closer look at the UCLA Guard's private life

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Jaime Jaquez Jr. reflects on his first Summer League game

Jaime Jaquez at the Northwestern v UCLA game

The Miami Heat and the LA Lakers headlined the 2023 NBA Summer League as they were the first to be matched against each other. The Heat won 107-90, thanks to Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s brilliance. He finished with 22 points and three rebounds on 53% from the field.

Following the win, he talked about his debut in the Summer League.

"It felt good. It felt really good. I was happy to be able to do that first game, make a statement and I'm happy how the game turned out," Jaquez said.

The Heat will face off against Sacramento Kings on Tuesday in their next game.