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Jaime Jaquez Jr's girlfriend Dominique Ruotolo took to Instagram to wish the Miami Heat guard on his birthday. Dominique shared photos of the couple on her story on Sunday with the caption:
"Happy bday to my love. Literally my bestfriend and the best human I've ever met ❤️ luh u tons" "My Goldie locks & pooks"
Dominique Ruotolo is a track and field athlete. Ruotolo and Jaquez were both in college together at the University of California, Los Angeles. They started dating less than a year ago.
The Miami Heat rookie turned 23 years old on Sunday, just a day after his 2024 All-Star weekend performances in the Rising Stars event and the Slam Dunk Contest.
Jaime Jaquez Jr's performance in the 2024 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest
Jaime Jaquez Jr did not celebrate his 23rd birthday with the NBA's Slam Dunk crown after being eliminated in the first round of the contest on Saturday.
Jaquez's two dunks received the lowest score in the first round among the four participants with a composite score of 94.2 points. Jacob Toppin of the New York Knicks was also eliminated in the first round along with Jaquez. Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, and the defending champion and repeat winner, Mac McClung, moved on to the second round.
Jaime's first dunk featured him jumping over Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. Jaquez cleared the 7-foor-1 O'Neal to throw down a powerful dunk on his first attempt for an average score of 47.4 from the judges.
“Listen, I ain’t gonna lie. I didn’t practice jumping over Shaq,” the Heat rookie said of his first dunk. “I used Bam (Adebayo) as practice. But there’s a big height difference. So I was really nervous when I saw Shaq out there. I’ve seen him a bunch of times. But when he’s standing there, I was definitely feeling nervous.”
For his second dunk, the rookie honored his Mexican roots. During his dunk, the LED glass court showed the names of the five Mexican NBA players who came before him and the Mexican flag. For the dunk, Jaime Jaquez Jr geared up with a backward hat and a black "El Heat Cultura" (The Heat Culture) jersey to pay homage to his Latino background.
Jaquez then bounced the ball to himself and double-clutched before spinning 180 degrees and completing the dunk on his second attempt for an average score of 46.8 points.
Jaime Jaquez Jr's efforts did not reap fruit as he finished last among the four participants in the 2024 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
