Chris Duarte

Chris Duarte is a Canadian-Dominican free agent professional basketball player, born in Montreal, Quebec, and raised in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. He participated in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game. Ranked the fifth-best player in New York by 247Sports, Duarte originally committed to play college basketball for Western Kentucky but instead started his career at Northwest Florida State College before transferring to Oregon. At Northwest Florida State, he was named NABC NJCAA Player of the Year in 2019. At Oregon, he received the 2021 Jerry West Award as the nation's top collegiate shooting guard. Duarte excelled at Oregon, being named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week his first week as an NCAA Division 1 athlete. During the 2020–21 season, Duarte led the Ducks to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He was additionally recognized as the AP Pac-12 Player of the Year and an AP Third Team All-American following the remarkable run that he had to lead the Ducks in March Madness. Chris was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of the University of Oregon. He was the first Hispanic player to be drafted in the NBA Draft lottery since 2015. In his first career NBA game, Chris made history scoring 27 points with 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 33 minutes. That is the most points scored by a rookie in their debut for the Indiana Pacers, and also the most three-pointers (6) in a debut as well. Chris capped off his rookie season by being voted amongst the best players in his class. The Indiana Pacers' first-round pick was voted by a panel of about 100 media members to the All-Rookie Second Team. Chris started in 39 of 55 games and was named to the Rising Stars game at All-Star weekend, though he did not play due to injury. He averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 37 percent from range during his rookie campaign, while becoming the 13th different Pacer named to an All-Rookie team, but just the second in the last decade. Ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season, Chris was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Chicago Bulls and is expected to play a pivotal role on a young team looking to make a push in the eastern conference. NBA All-Access: Chris Duarte is a family man Please see the following video detailing Chris’ uplifting journey to the NBA: The Inspiring Story of CHRIS DUARTE - NBA Scouts Call Him The STEAL of the 2021 NBA Draft?! Career Highlights & Awards: NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2022) NBA Rising Star (2022) AP 3rd-Team All-American (2021) AP Pac-12 Player of the Year (2021) Jerry West Award recipient (2021) 1st-Team All-Pac-12 (2021) Pac-12 All-Defensive Team (2021) NABC Junior College Player of the Year (2019)