Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. will have a busy weekend travel schedule after he was excused by coach Erik Spoelstra to watch his sister play for a national championship today.
Jaquez, a UCLA alum, will travel to Phoenix to see his sister Gabriela play for the Bruins in the women’s championship game against South Carolina.
Jaquez is not expected to miss a Heat game, but his travel plans will be tight. The Heat played at home Saturday against Washington Wizards, then play on the road Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors.
That creates a 2,000-mile flight from Miami to Phoenix and a 1,900-mile flight from there to Toronto.
The elder Jaquez led UCLA to the men’s 2021 Final Four and was the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year, while also earning second-team All-America honors that season. He was a first-round draft pick by the Heat in 2023.
Gabriela Jaquez is third on the Bruins with 13.3 points per game, and adds 5.4 rebounds with 2.0 assists. The senior has helped UCLA to a 36-1 record and a second consecutive Final Four appearance, while chasing the program’s first women’s basketball national title.
She scored 10 points with two assists and four rebounds in UCLA’s 51-44 national semifinal victory Friday against Texas.
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