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Eric Gomez, Mexico writer
CAMARILLO, Calif. — The sizzle and smell of burgers on the summertime grill could come from just about any backyard in America. Here in Southern California, an unexpected breeze makes for a welcome guest on a sunny afternoon. Jaime Jaquez Sr. embraces it joyfully while grilling for his parents and three children. At the table, the three generations gather to mingle in two languages about their shared passion: sports.
The conversations with Spanish peppered in serve as a constant reminder of the family’s Mexican heritage. Jaime Jaquez Jr., a standout rookie for the NBA’s Miami Heat last season and a star at UCLA before that, mostly reacts to the chatter around him. His sister Gabriela Jaquez, a rising star guard for UCLA’s women’s basketball team, inspects the snacks in front of her and considers her hot sauce options. Youngest brother Marcos Jaquez, a defensive lineman enrolled at Ventura College, asks his grandparents, Ezequiel and Gloria, about their time as young athletes.
“My dad saw that we liked basketball, and he made a rim out of rebar or something like that,” says Ezequiel, who would play hoops on the street or in the backyard with his older brother. “But he didn’t know the dimensions. It was only 16 inches. A regular one is 18. So, we were very happy when we made a swish on that.”
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The Jaquez family, the way to the American dream
Jaime Jr., Gabriela and Marcos are building on a Jaquez sports legacy that started two generations ago.
The ingenuity of Ezequiel and his father is a testament to the American dream. What neither of them could know at the time is how that rebar laid the foundation upon which the framework for a budding Mexican American sports dynasty would one day stand. Ezequiel was the first piece of the structure, followed by his son Jaime. Nowadays, they both watch the next generation excel in ways the family could previously only imagine.
Nevertheless, the Jaquezes maintain an ardent desire to stay connected to their Mexican roots while representing both sides of the border. Jaime, Gabriela and Marcos represent merely the next step in the family legacy.
The cultural components involved will collide on Nov. 2, when Jaime Jr.’s Miami Heat faces the Washington Wizards in Mexico City as part of the NBA Global Games. The second-year Heat guard, one of the few players of Mexican descent in the league’s history, figures to feature prominently in the regular-season matchup on Día de los Muertos, a distinctly Latin American holiday.
“I’m definitely going to be feeling a lot of pressure, that’s for sure,” Jaime told ESPN for Hispanic Heritage Month. “But it’s something you’ve got to embrace.”
Family business
Jaimito, as he is known within the family, is the first Jaquez to reach the highest professional level of his sport, though others before him have flirted with the big leagues.
The Jaquezes’ relationship with sports goes back decades. Ezequiel’s brother Richard played rookie ball in the Houston Astros organization (then known as the Colt .45s) in 1964. Upon retiring, he became a successful high school baseball and football coach who was recognized with induction into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame.
For his part, Ezequiel Jaquez Jr. played baseball during his time at Ventura College. His interest in football was stopped cold by his mother Lucía, who feared her lanky son would be easily injured. However, at over 6 feet tall, Ezequiel gravitated to and excelled at basketball, enough to where he earned a scholarship to Arizona State College in Flagstaff, now known as Northern Arizona.
“I’d never been over there. It was funny, I showed up in a suit and then they looked at me like I was weird,” Ezequiel says. “[The rest] wore cowboy boots and belts and stuff like that.”
He soon met Gloria, who was from a small town called Zapotlanejo about 20 miles east of Guadalajara, and they settled in Oxnard, California, after exchanging vows. Their son Jaime continued his father’s college basketball legacy at Concordia University, in nearby Irvine. It was there he met the former Angela Sather, a fellow Concordia basketball player who averaged 21.4 points per game in 1997, a school record at the time. Angela was that season’s Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year and helped the Golden Eagles qualify for the NAIA tournament. She was inducted into Concordia’s Hall of Fame in 2008.
All three of the couple’s three children were given Hispanic first names to instill a sense of tradition for the homeland of their paternal ancestors.
“The name for me is very important,” Jaime Sr. says. “Jaime’s my name, and in the Mexican tradition, the firstborn [son] is going to be Junior. I wanted my kids to have names in Spanish. Marcos, Gabriela, Jaime. For me, that’s the foundation.”
The kids also inherited the family’s passion and aptitude for sports. Jaime Sr. encouraged his kids to play different sports and took steps to make sure their mental toughness was on par with their physical attributes.
In touch with their roots
Jaime and Angela made it a point for their children to further connect with their culture and history. Growing up, the Jaquez siblings would often vacation in Mexico, spending time with their grandmother’s extended family in Zapotlanejo. The experiences were key in helping them to better understand their family origins and strengthen their bonds with them.
With that in mind, the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend was the cherry on top for Jaimito’s torrid first half in his debut season. The Eastern Conference’s Rookie of the Month in October/November and December was selected to the Rising Stars Challenge and, most notably, the slam dunk contest. It was during this event in Indianapolis that Jaime, 23, came out in a Spanish-language Heat jersey and onto an LED court that projected the Mexican flag beneath him.
As Jaquez finished prep for his dunk, the on-court video displayed the names of former Mexican NBA players and relayed a final, poignant message: “The legacy lives on.”
Jaime only competed in the first round, which included a dunk over his childhood hero Shaquille O’Neal, a champion with the Heat in 2006. However, his participation is remembered as one of the most memorable of the weekend.
Meanwhile, Gabriela represents Mexico’s national team. She made her debut in August at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 prequalifying tournament under Mexico head coach Lindsey Harding, who is also a Los Angeles Lakers assistant. Gabriela helped lead Mexico to the semifinals and finished as the top scorer for all teams, averaging 21.8 points per game.
Still in college, Gabriela, 20, is intent on following her older brother’s footsteps and becoming what is believed to be just the third player of Mexican heritage in the WNBA’s history.
“I would definitely love to play in the WNBA,” Gabriela says. “The women’s side of basketball is very diverse. But the Mexican community in [the WNBA] is pretty slim. I definitely hope to grow that.”
Like Jaime before her, Gabriela plays for a UCLA program steeped in a tradition that regularly sends its players to the next level. UCLA had six of its players on WNBA preseason rosters at the start of its current season.
Last spring, Gabriela moonlighted for the school’s softball team as the Bruins reached the Women’s College World Series.
“It was always a dream of mine as a little kid to play Division I softball at UCLA,” Gabriela says. “I really enjoy being on a team. And so getting to immerse myself into a new team, a new culture while still [in the same school] is super exciting.”
A lasting legacy
The family’s presence at UCLA will live on long after Gabriela graduates. In 2023, the UCLA Latino Alumni Association and UCLA Alumni Association announced the Jaquez Family Scholarship Fund, which provides financial support for incoming freshman and transfer students.
“You sort of have a duty to be able to give back to your community the people who helped you become who you are,” Jaime Jr. says. “That’s why we developed this scholarship fund, so that kids who have the ability to go to college but may not have the funds. That should never be a problem.”
Meanwhile, a third Jaquez sibling is waiting in the wings, although in a different arena. Marcos, who was selected all-county as a basketball player at Camarillo High School, nevertheless has chosen football as his path, backed by strong performances as a defensive lineman that saw him become an All-California Interscholastic Federation selection.
A broken wrist suffered while playing basketball in his senior year of high school has halted his ascent for the time being. Still, he hopes to one day transfer from Ventura College to a bigger program while styling his game after Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby.
“If I was to be in the NFL, and represent Mexico and Mexican Americans, that would be awesome,” says Marcos, 19. “Who wouldn’t want to be that type of anchor or support for someone trying to grow up and do something great for themselves?”
Ultimately, regardless of how many of the siblings achieve the heights of a pro sports career, the family’s legacy is set to inspire coming generations of young athletes on both sides of the border looking to follow in their footsteps.
Jaime Jr. is poised to build on his rookie success as he enters his sophomore season in the NBA. At the peak of his popularity last season, he starred in an ad campaign that aired nationally in the U.S. with teammate and Heat superstar Jimmy Butler. Both Jaime Jr. and Gabriela have endorsement deals with companies in Mexico.
With so much on the Jaquez family docket, it remains to be seen which of Jaime’s family members are in the stands when the Heat tip off on Día de los Muertos in Mexico City.
“I got to be there [in Mexico City] and try to figure out a way so I can also be there for Gabriela, who plays in Paris on Nov. 4,” Jaime Sr. says. “That’s also my [wedding] anniversary. It sounds like a red-eye situation. So those are the things that I’m worried about. As I said, we’re very, very busy these days.”
Source: www.espn.com