Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. didn’t back up C.J. Stroud’s statement that he dropped 40 points on him back when the two were in high school.
Stroud hopped on Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parson’s podcast recently and told the story of how he supposedly torched Jaquez’s team.
C.J. Stroud says he dropped 40 points on Jaime Jaquez in HS 👀
(via The Edge with Micah Parsons) pic.twitter.com/vfkOZB3UfJ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 14, 2024
“Do you know who the star player on the Miami Heat is right now other than Jimmy Butler?” Stroud began. “Jaime Jaquez — played at UCLA. That game I scored 40 points was on him.”
Jaquez later responded to the claim and said that while Stroud hit a game-winner against him, he isn’t sure if the Houston Texans quarterback ended up with 40 points.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. responds to CJ Stroud's comments about them playing against each other in high school 🗣️
2024 #PaniniRisingStars: TONIGHT at 9:00pm/et on TNT! pic.twitter.com/nZEQ13C4UN
— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2024
“I don’t think he had 40, but I will give him — he definitely hit the game-winner,” Jaquez said. “That is true. He hit a crazy game-winner, half-court.”
Fans will get to see Stroud show off his basketball skills in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday night. He is a member of the team that will be coached by ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith.
Jaquez will also be taking part in All-Star festivities on Friday. He will play in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars after former Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol selected him to be on his team.
Stroud’s high school basketball coach, Bill Burke, spoke to Sporting News and revealed that a score sheet from when the 22-year-old faced off against Jaquez indicated that Stroud finished with 28 points in the game rather than 40.
But Burke said that Stroud still had a great game against the Heat player.
“He was on fire that game,” Burke told Sporting News.
Jaquez has been one of the better rookies in the NBA so far during the 2023-24 regular season. He is averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game on 49.2 percent shooting from the field and 32.1 percent from deep in 49 games played with the Heat.
The forward boasts the fifth-highest scoring average of any rookie, behind only Scoot Henderson, Brandon Miller, Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. Plus, he sits just outside the top 10 in rebounds per game among first-year players.
While it’s unfortunate that Jaquez and Stroud won’t be competing against each other on Friday, it will be exciting to see how the former performs in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars and the latter in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.
