Heat's Jaime Jaquez Jr. misses out on opportunity to play in All-Star Game, loses in Rising Stars

Miami Herald

15-02-2025

The new Rising Stars format gave Miami Heat second-year forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. an opportunity to earn a spot in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game. That's because, for the first time, this year's winning Rising Stars squad will take part in the NBA All-Star Game's new four-team tournament.
But unfortunately for Jaquez, his All-Star Weekend ended Friday night when his team (Team Tim Hardaway) fell to Team Chris Mullin 40-34 in the semifinals of the Rising Stars four-team tournament at Chase Center in San Francisco.
That loss eliminated Jaquez and Tim Hardaway from the Rising Stars showcase, which features select NBA rookies/sophomores and G League players. It marked Jaquez's second Rising Stars appearance after also playing in the event as a rookie last year.
Jaquez, who turns 24 on Tuesday, closed the defeat with four points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in eight minutes on the court. His only made basket was a corner three-pointer.
'Tonight was a lot of fun, being around all these guys, same draft class,' Jaquez said after being eliminated from Friday's Rising Stars event. 'It's cool to be able to catch up with them midway during the season, see how they're all doing and build that relationship outside of basketball.'
In the end, Team Chris Mullin defeated Team G League ### in the Rising Stars final to punch its ticket in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game. Team Chris Mullin's roster includes Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs, Dalton Knecht of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jaylen Wells of the Memphis Grizzlies, Keyonte George of the Utah Jazz, Zach Edey of the Grizzlies, Trayce Jackson-Davis of the Golden State Warriors and Ryan Dunn of the Phoenix Suns.
For each Rising Stars semifinal game, the winner was the first team to reach or surpass 40 points For the championship game, the winner was the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
The Rising Stars champion was able to add one player from a losing Rising Stars team for Sunday's All-Star Game. But Jaquez was not selected, as WNBA legend Candace Parker (as the general manager of the Rising Stars champion) picked Amen Thompson of the Houston Rockets to join Team Chris Mullin for the All-Star Game.
Jaquez won't get the opportunity to take part in Sunday's All-Star Game, but he's just the fifth different Heat player to be selected for the Rising Stars showcase multiple times while with the organization, joining a list that also includes Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, Michael Beasley and Tyler Herro.
Jaquez's second Rising Stars appearance comes in the middle of what has been a relatively underwhelming sophomore NBA season for him. He has averaged 9.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 29.3 percent from three-point range in his second NBA season.
Jaquez's scoring and efficiency have dipped from last season when he was named to the NBA's All-Rookie First Team. Jaquez, who was selected by the Heat with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 draft, averaged more points while shooting a better percentage from the field and from behind the arc as a rookie.
The Heat's All-Star Weekend continues on Saturday night when Herro takes part in the Three-Point Contest (8 p.m., TNT). Herro will then represent the Heat in Sunday night's NBA All-Star Game.
For Jaquez, he'll stay in San Francisco on Saturday to enjoy some of the All-Star Weekend festivities before spending the rest of the break in Miami.
'When All-Star comes around, it somehow comes around always at the perfect time,' Jaquez said. 'When everybody just needs to get away and take some time to rest, recuperate and regroup. So, taking all that and getting ready for this last leg of the season and just really make a stand and make a push.'