Miami, FL
Miami Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. hopes to inspire new generation of Mexican NBA players, fans
Jaime Jaquez Jr. answered a few questions in Spanish following the Miami Heat’s New Year’s Day game against host the LA Clippers.
It’s not often that an NBA player takes questions in Spanish. The Heat’s rookie guard is on a short list of NBA players of Mexican heritage to play in the league. But now with a global platform, this budding star hopes he can have an impact on aspiring basketball players from Mexico and Mexican Americans dreaming about playing in the NBA and WNBA who want to grow in the game.
“I’ve been noticing it a lot, even in college as well, the impact that I’m having on a community,” Jaquez, 22, told Andscape last week. “I guess more now because the NBA is a much bigger league. But even in college, people were coming up to me and thanking for representing something much bigger than myself …
“I didn’t come into this league thinking I want to be the best Mexican basketball player to play. That wasn’t necessarily my goal. But if that comes along, that’s great to be able to make an impact.”
Three-time NBA All-Star and two-time champion forward Mark Aguirre’s father and grandfather were from Mexico and he once considered playing for the Mexican national team, according to the Chicago Tribune. Jorge Gutierrez, a Mexican American, played in 47 NBA games. NBA champion Juan Toscano-Anderson, who is Mexican American and African American, was signed by the Sacramento Kings after beginning this season with the G League Mexico City Capitanes.
But since its inception in 1946, the NBA has only had three native Mexican players. The most notable was Eduardo Najera, who averaged 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds in 619 games for Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and New Jersey Nets. Horacio Llamas played in 28 games and Gustavo Ayon played in 135 games.
“Najera was before my time, but I’m fully aware of who he was and what he was able to do,” Jaquez said.
Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images
Jaquez was a 2022 second-team All-American as a senior at UCLA last season after averaging 7.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. He dropped a few draft slots, perhaps because he was an older prospect. The Heat selected Jaquez with the 18th overall selection in the 2023 NBA draft.
In a preseason NBA general manager survey, 10% voted that Jaquez would be the “biggest steal” of the draft. Most of Miami’s residents are Hispanic and Spanish-speaking, which added more curiosity from locals about the newcomer.
“I was at an [autograph] signing at a Miami Heat store and you got people bringing Mexican flags to sign. There is pride at the games with people saying, ‘Viva Mexico’ to me,” Jaquez said.
Jaquez was averaging 13.7 points, fourth-best among NBA rookies, 3.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Heat entering Wednesday’s game against forward LeBron James and the host Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder scored a career-high 31 points during Miami’s 119-113 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Christmas Day. Jaquez has also started the last nine games for the Heat.
It’s likely he will be a part of the NBA All-Star Rising Stars Challenge, the game that includes young NBA and G League Ignite standouts during NBA All-Star Weekend.
“I trusted in my work,” Jaquez said. “As long as I had an opportunity, I knew I would be able to perform. So, I got my opportunity and took advantage. I wouldn’t say I was shocked or surprised. I just trust in what I was able to do.”
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “It is impressive watching Jaime play. He is strong, physical and very skilled. Obviously, he comes with experience. He has made a huge impact.”
Toscano-Anderson said Jaquez could be the first player of Mexican heritage to become an NBA star.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Toscano-Anderson said of Jaquez to Andscape. “Mature player. He was NBA-ready, and Miami was the perfect place for him to go, based on their culture. I think him playing so well and being in the [rookie of the year] chase, it enhances the magnitude/impact. He has more face time, more coverage, more support. So, it’s different. The previous Mexican players have all been role players. He has the chance to be more than that.”
Heat forward Kevin Love told Andscape: “His personality is not like a rookie. He makes rookie mistakes out there on the floor. But as far as his personality, he is one of us and blends in with us well. And with his game, he has been very impactful.”
Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Jaquez comes from a basketball family starting with his grandfather, Ezequiel, who played at Ventura Community College and Northern Arizona. Jaime Jaquez Sr. played at Concordia University in Irvine, California, where he met his wife Angela, who also played college basketball there. Jaquez’s sister Gabriela is a standout basketball player in her own right, averaging 12.7 points per game as a sophomore for UCLA.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Evina Westbrook became the first Mexican American drafted in WNBA history in 2022 when she was selected 21st overall by the Seattle Storm (Westbrook is also African American). Gabriela Jaquez also has WNBA potential. Jaquez says that his sister regularly gets approached by Mexican basketball fans as well.
“She is growing as her own basketball player, her own star. She is having her shine with me out of the picture in Los Angeles and at UCLA. She’s enjoying her time and doing well,” Jaquez said.
Jaquez answered questions in Spanish after the loss to the Clippers and said that he wants to become more fluent. He says he has been using the Spanish learning application Duolingo to improve and is learning naturally living in Miami. Jaquez also plans to spend time in Mexico next offseason and has been to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cancun, Baja, California, and Monterrey. He added that he has had conversations about potentially playing for the Mexican men’s national basketball team.
“My Spanish is getting better living in Miami. I’m using Spanish a lot more,” Jaquez said. “I think that is important. You got to understand the way I was brought up. My mother [who is white], tried to speak Spanish. But it was more so my father who spoke Spanish. Growing up, it wasn’t spoken in the household.
“I took [Spanish] in college and in high school. I’ve been to Mexico. My grandparents speak Spanish. I am going to spend some time in Mexico this summer and try to integrate and learn the language the best I can. I plan on going all over to Mexico City and Guadalajara.”
Jasen Vinlove/Miami Marlins/Getty Images
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said he has considered Mexico City as a possibility for expansion. The G League Capitanes are in the midst of their second season in Mexico City and playing in an NBA-ready arena with 22,300 seats. The NBA has been playing games in Mexico since 1992, including the Atlanta Hawks’ 120-119 win over the Orlando Magic on Nov. 9, 2023, in Mexico City in front of 19,986 fans.
Becoming an NBA star could also become lucrative for Jaquez in Mexico, Latin America and other Spanish-speaking markets. As of 2023, Mexico had the world’s 10th largest population at 128 million people. There are also 21 countries and territories where Spanish is the official language.
As the NBA continues to grow in popularity, a Spanish-speaking star player could take advantage of those markets.
“That is something that my father and I have seen from a very long time ago, even when I was in high school,” Jaquez said. “Just understanding that basketball isn’t really that big in Latin America and South America, there is an opportunity for them to embrace the sport with the right person and the right people. Myself, I know I am making a big impact trying to spread the game.
“It’s all about the love of the game of basketball. The more [people] from Mexico, South America appreciate and see the game, the more they will be able to fall in love with it the way everyone in America and Europe has as well. It’s the best game in the world.”
The NBA entered the 2023-24 season with a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories. None, however, were natives of Mexico. The last native of Mexico to play in an NBA game was Ayon during the 2013-14 season.
Perhaps in time, with stellar play, Jaquez can inspire a new generation of Mexican NBA players and followers.
“The league is becoming more and more diverse,” Jaquez said. “Europeans are coming over. People are coming from all over, from the Bahamas to Mexico, all the way to Finland. It has become such an international sport. As the NBA grows and grows, you’re going to see more Latino players come in and make an impact.”
Miami, FL
Miami-Dade condo owners plead for help after weeks-long elevator outrage impacting residents’ health
Condominium owners near Doral are appealing for help after their buildings have been without elevator service for weeks. They are speaking exclusively with CBS News Miami, sharing stories of hardship amid the area’s suffocating heat. Several owners, who are elderly and have disabilities, say they are struggling to climb the stairs.
This is not the first time the issue has plagued Parkwood Condominiums. Last July, CBS News Miami reported that one building in the complex had been without elevator service for more than a week.
Currently, service has been out at 9240 Fontainebleau Boulevard since May 14. The elevator at 9270 Fontainebleau Boulevard has been out of service since May 15, and the elevator at 9180 Fontainebleau Boulevard is also non-functional, though the duration there is unknown.
Ronald Bedenis, who has lived on the fifth floor of 9240 Fontainebleau Boulevard for 31 years, expressed worry for his wife and others.
“It’s terrible. People are having a really difficult time,” Bedenis said. “My wife cannot go out. I have an 80-year-old woman who cannot go down the stairs. Another neighbor is 104 years old, and she is in a wheelchair. How is she supposed to get down and buy food?”
His neighbor, 68-year-old Sandra Hanson, shared her struggle. “It is horrible. It is very bad because my husband is 80 years old and he cannot walk. He is very sick. He is stressed out,” Hanson said.
At 9270 Fontainebleau Boulevard, 77-year-old heart patient Luis Jorge said the outage is impacting his health.
“They put two catheters in my heart before, and I have another operation coming up,” Jorge said. “To go down is not a problem. But to go up is a problem. We called, and there is no one to talk to. I feel like I am in prison”.
His neighbor, Iris Hernandez, called the situation “frustrating”.
“It’s a big hardship, and I am in disbelief,” Hernandez said. “I feel like I am in a nightmare. I would like to see the elevator fixed”.
CBS News Miami contacted Atlas Property Management Services in Doral and received a statement from Joaquin Alvarez, the property manager.
Alvarez reported some progress at 9270 Fontainebleau Boulevard, where a damaged property edge was repaired, but they are waiting for a control card. At 9240 Fontainebleau Boulevard, Alvarez said the elevator had a damaged valve, and he expected a new one to be installed by the end of the week. He confirmed the Condominium Association had authorized repairs.
For 9180 Fontainebleau Boulevard, Alvarez said the problem involves a defective control board, which the elevator company is working with the manufacturer to resolve. He noted the issue has been ongoing “for a while” but did not provide a repair completion date for that building.
South Florida developers knocked out a combined $115 million in construction loans for Miami condo towers that are nearly sold out, as the demand for hospitality-branded residences heats up in the region.
North Development paid off a $70 million loan to Forman Capital and Core Capital for Domus Brickell Park, while Rosso Development and Midtown Development paid off a $45 million mortgage to Arkansas-based Bank OZK for The Standard Residences, Midtown Miami.
The projects have hit major milestones.
North’s 172-unit Domus Brickell Park recently opened and has posted 120 closings, while Rosso and Midtown’s 228-unit Standard Residences is nearing completion with only five units left to sell.
North Development, a partnership between Ricardo Dunin’s Oak Capital and Juan Carlos Tassara’s Edifica, paid off its loan in April for the building at 1611 Southwest Second Avenue.
The project offers a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units that are short-term rental friendly. Units were marketed from the $600,000s to $1.2 million.
Zyscovich Architects is the architect, and Urban Robot Associates is the interior design firm. Amenities include the Peacock Room, which Dunin previously described as an activated lobby with food and beverage concepts, a market, and co-working spaces for guests and the public that were inspired by the ACE hotel in New York.
The payoff comes as North pushes ahead with Domus Brickell Center, another short-term-rental-friendly condo tower nearby. The developer said that 35-story, 579-unit project at 1034 Southwest Second Avenue is more than 50 percent sold and ahead of schedule. Less than a year ago, the project secured $220 million in financing, consisting of $180 million in C-PACE funding from Coral Gables-based Bayview PACE and a $40 million mortgage from Core Capital.
A few miles north, Rosso Development and Midtown Development paid off a $45 million construction loan for The Standard Residences, Midtown Miami, the first standalone residential project from the lifestyle hospitality brand. Another Standard-branded residential tower is under development in Brickell by Newgard Development Group and Two Roads Development.
Designed by Arquitectonica, the 12-story Midtown project includes 228 residences and more than 34,000 square feet of amenities, featuring a rooftop pool, pickleball court, coworking spaces and several food-and-beverage offerings, including a Juvia Group restaurant on the rooftop.
Units range from 432 square feet to 965 square feet, and include studios to two-bedroom condos. Owners will be able to rent their units out for terms as short as one month. In October 2023, fewer than 35 units remained, priced between $500,000 to $1 million.
A JLL Capital Markets debt advisory team led by Brian Gaswirth and Jimmy Calvo arranged the financing in 2023. According to JLL, the loan was paid off ahead of schedule.
Bank OZK is one of South Florida’s most active condo construction lenders. The bank also provided PMG’s state record-setting $668 million construction loan for Waldorf Astoria Residences Miami, which is expected to become the tallest residential tower south of New York City.
Even as interest rates have gradually come down in recent years, the environment is still relatively high, and construction costs continue to climb.
Read more
Juvia to open rooftop restaurant at Standard Residences in Midtown
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South Florida
Standard Residences in Midtown Miami scores $45M construction loan
Residential
South Florida
Ricardo Dunin, Juan Carlos Tassara land $220M financing for Domus Brickell Center
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South Florida
Ricardo Dunin, Peruvian partner score $70M loan for Domus Brickell
Miami, FL
Family displaced after car crashes into southwest Miami-Dade home, leaving structure unlivable
A car crashed into a southwest Miami-Dade home Sunday evening, leaving the structure unlivable and displacing a family of five, authorities said.
The crash happened near the intersection of Monroe Street and Douglass Drive and involved two vehicles, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office. Doorbell camera video captured the moment of impact and the chaotic aftermath as neighbors rushed to help.
Five family members were inside the home at the time of the crash, including an 84-year-old woman. No one inside the house was injured, but the damage to the home was extensive.
“I was frantic. I was scared,” said Ken Charles, a relative who rushed to the scene to check on his grandmother. “I had to jump up and head straight over here and see what’s really going on.”
A woman who lives in the home, who asked not to be identified by her full name, said she initially thought something far worse had happened.
“I didn’t know if it was a gunshot, if it was a bomb, if it was a police chase,” she said. “So I looked outside and saw the car smoking.”
Emergency crews transported three people involved in the crash to a hospital with injuries ranging from stable to critical, officials said. Doorbell video shows neighbors and occupants of the vehicles attempting to help the injured moments after the collision.
Residents in the neighborhood said speeding and drivers running stop signs are ongoing concerns in the area, though they said crashes this severe are uncommon.
“There is no reason for him to be going so fast,” the resident said.
The American Red Cross responded late Sunday evening to assist the displaced family with temporary housing. Charles said the family does not have insurance and is now facing major financial challenges.
“We really do need the help,” he said. “It’s very difficult, and it’s not easy. We don’t know how we are going to get by.”
Authorities have not released an update on the conditions of those injured or said whether any charges will be filed. The investigation remains ongoing.
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