By NAN Sports Editor
News Americas, BROOKLYN, NY, Fri. July 30, 2021: A Caribbean roots basketball player was on Thursday night drafted in the first-round NBA Draft Pick by the Indian Pacers.
Chris Duarte, who was born in Canada but raised in the Dominican Republic, was selected with the No. 13 overall selection during Thursday night’s 2021 NBA Draft.
The National Junior College Player of the Year, the No. 1 junior college recruit in 2018, a first-team Pac-12 player, All-American, and the winner of the Jerry West Award, raised the flag of the DR as his name was called.
The Oregon shooting guard, this past season, averaged 17.1 points per game to lead the team while shooting 53.2 percent overall from the field (160-of-301) and 42.4 percent from three-point range (61-of-144.
Duarte was also named the Associated Press Pac-12 Player of the Year and was selected to the all-Pac-12 first team and the Pac-12 all-defensive team by Pac-12 coaches.
He was also one of only two players in Division I to average 17.0 points and 1.9 steals per game this year, while shooting 50 percent from the field. He led the team in steals (49) and blocks (21).
Duarte, 24, is also a dad of one – a 17-month-old son named Christopher, whom he shares with his girlfriend Sylvia Velazquez. He credited his son as the reason for helping him reach the NBA.
“Chris [Jr.] is everything for me. He means everything for me and my family. He makes me work harder everyday,” Duarte said, during a post interview.
