As Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of Team USA geared up for the 2024 Olympics, they took to the court for intense scrimmages against the USA Select Team, a group brimming with young talent. While the spotlight often shone on rising star Cooper Flagg, another standout on the roster was Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., who made his presence known among the elite.
Jaquez is well known throughout Southern California after starring at UCLA for four years before being drafted by the Heat and going on to make the NBA All-Rookie First Team. In fact, many Lakers fans are still lamenting the fact that the franchise could’ve taken him with the 17th pick in 2023 but chose Jalen Hood-Schifino instead.
Nonetheless, Jaquez had an excellent opportunity with the USA Select Team to get an up close look at how some of the best players in the NBA prepare, in particular LeBron. And the Heat forward is hoping to implement that level of work ethic into his own routines going forward, as he discussed in an interview on Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf:
“The guy that I was matched up the most with was probably LeBron [James]. You know I already have incredible respect for what he’s been able to do, the longevity he was able to play with, I mean obviously still playing. But just how hard he goes. Even Coach Spo was telling me that this guy still wakes up at 6am in the morning, before everybody else, and gets his lift in. And the way he prepares for practices, it is like he’s playing a game. So you get to see that and those are things that I wanna take and implement into my routines and my lifestyle and just being able to see that was incredible.”
One of the reasons why being a part of Team USA is so valued is the chance to see the work that the absolute best put in to get to that level. There were tons of stories about how the likes of LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and others were in awe in seeing Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s regimen up close in 2008 and realizing that they needed to step it up. Jaquez is looking to do the same for his own game.
Jaquez has already proven that he is a more than capable NBA player and now he feels he can take his game to the next level thanks to seeing how a superstar like James operates on a daily basis.
LeBron James believes Team USA facing challenges before Olympics is a good thing
LeBron James led Team USA to an undefeated 5-0 exhibition record prior to the Olympics, but it was not without some close calls. After a one-point escape against South Sudan, Team USA had to battle to hold off Germany in their exhibition finale.
But that wasn’t a bad thing as far as LeBron is concerned. In addressing the team after the win over Germany, James said that being down back-to-back games will be good for them and now the real games begin.
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