Jonathan Anh Juzang (; born March 17, 2001) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA), on a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

for the

Salt Lake City Stars The Salt Lake City Stars are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. As of the 2022-23 season, the Stars play in the Maverik Center in West Valley City, U ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. He began his

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career playing one season with the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

before transferring to the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. A two-time all-conference selection in the Pac-12, Juzang earned third-team All-American honors as a junior in 2022. As a sophomore in 2021, the Bruins advanced to the Final Four of the 2021 NCAA tournament, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Early life

Juzang was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. His father, Maxie, is Creole, and his mother, Hanh, is

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

. After repeating the eighth grade, Juzang played high school basketball for

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two predec ...

in Los Angeles. In his freshman season, he averaged 16.2 points, 7.5

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, and two assists per game and was teammates with

Cassius Stanley Cassius Jerome Stanley (born August 18, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. High school career Stanley first attended ...

. Harvard-Westlake won the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

(CIF-SS) Division 1A championship after Juzang recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in the final. As a sophomore, he averaged 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, leading his team to a 22–6 record. In his junior season, Juzang averaged 23 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and was named the most valuable player of the Mission League. He helped lead Harvard-Westlake to their first league title since 2011 after scoring 25 points in the championship game against rival Loyola. After the season, Juzang

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from the 2020 class to the 2019 class, allowing him to play collegiately in the following season. He was a four-star

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and one of the top

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s in his class. On May 10, 2019, he committed to play college basketball for

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

over

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He had also been interested in

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, but their coach,

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

, was fired, and he did not have time to develop a relationship with their new coach, Mick Cronin, before choosing the Wildcats.

College career

Kentucky (2019–2020)

As a freshman at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

, Juzang played behind

Tyrese Maxey Tyrese Kendrid Maxey (born November 4, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. Born in D ...

and

Immanuel Quickley Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (born June 17, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. High school career While a ...

and was mostly restricted to catch-and-shoot opportunities in limited playing time. His defense was considered a weakness, and he did not shoot well enough to compel

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

coach John Calipari to play him more. On February 8, 2020, Juzang scored a season-high 13 points with three three-pointers in a 77–64 win over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He averaged 2.9 points, shooting 37.7 percent from the field, in 12.4 minutes per game for the Wildcats.

UCLA (2020–2022)

Sophomore season (2020–2021)

After the season, Juzang announced that he was transferring from Kentucky. He had been lonely without his family, and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

drove his desire to return home. Juzang decided to transfer to UCLA and play under Cronin, and he was granted a waiver to play immediately instead of the usual requirement to sit out a season. Juzang missed the first four games of the 2020–21 season with a stress reaction in his right foot. In his first game, he scored 10 points off the bench in a win over

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

. He moved into the starting lineup in the following game against Marquette. On January 14, 2021, Juzang scored a then-career-high 17 points, leading the Bruins in scoring in a 91–61 blowout win over

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. On January 24, against Stanford, he scored 27 in a 73–72 loss in overtime, the Bruins' first conference defeat of the season. The game included a stretch where Juzang scored 21 straight points for the team, making eight consecutive shots to end the first half and begin the second. Against

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 64–61 win. He was the first Bruin to score at least half of his team's points in a game since

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) ca ...

35 years earlier. The team's leading scorer, Juzang was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection. In the 2021 NCAA tournament, Juzang joined Miller and

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

, known in college as Lew Alcindor, to become the third player in UCLA history to score at least 20 points in their first two NCAA tournament games. He scored 28 points in a 51–49 win over No. 1 seed

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, as UCLA advanced to their first Final Four since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Eighteen of his points came in the first half, which included a run where he scored 12 consecutive for the Bruins. He became the first player to score at least half of his team's points in a regional finals win since

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson playe ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. He was named the most outstanding player of the tournament's East Region. Juzang scored 29 points in the national semifinal against 1-seed Gonzaga, including a basket to tie the game with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime, but the Bulldogs' Jalen Suggs made a

buzzer beater In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

to win 93–90 over the Bruins. Juzang averaged 22.8 points in six games in the tournament, and was named to the 2021 All-Tournament Team. He scored 137 total points, the second most by a UCLA player in NCAA tournament history behind Gail Goodrich's 140 points in 1965. He scored 23 or more points four times in the tournament for a total of eight games with at least 20 during the season.

Junior season (2021–2022)

During the offseason, Juzang declared for the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. After making it into the first round of some

mock draft Mock draft is a term used by sports websites and magazines in reference to a simulation of a sports league draft or fantasy sports league's draft. ESPN has run mock drafts on the front page of its website, allowing any visitor to vote towards a sp ...

s but also struggling in a few draft combine games, he decided to return to UCLA and contend for a national championship in 2021–22. Hoping to boost his draft stock, Juzang instead fought injuries, missing one game due to a sore hip from a scooter accident and two others with a sprained right ankle. He was also sidelined for two games after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

, and failed to significantly improve on defense during the season. Though he was the focus of opponents' defensive game plans, Juzang largely duplicated his statistics from a year before and remained as UCLA's leading scorer, helping lead the team to a No. 4 seed in the 2022 NCAA tournament. He was named a third-team All-American by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

, and was voted to the All-Pac-12 first team. He was also listed on the final national ballot for the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

, and was a finalist for the

Jerry West Award The Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate shooting guard. The award is named after former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, ...

, given to the top shooting guard in the nation. After failing to reach double figures in scoring in four out of six games, Juzang had his best game since his ankle injury with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting along with eight rebounds in a 72–56 win over Saint Mary's in the second round of the NCAA tournament. He scored 14 again in the Bruins' season-ending 73–66 loss to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

in the Sweet Sixteen, but needed 13 shots and was only 2-of-8 shooting in the second half. After the season, he left UCLA to enter the NBA draft.

Professional career

Utah Jazz (2022–present)

Juzang went undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

. He played for the

in the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campu ...

, although his debut was delayed after he suffered a concussion in a car crash days after he arrived in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. After the summer league, he signed a

with the Jazz. During the season, he missed over a month with a serious wrist sprain. He made his NBA debut on February 28, 2023 in a 102–94 loss to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, scoring three points. On July 19, 2023, Juzang signed another two-way contract with the Jazz.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .337 , , .238 , , .500 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 18 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .337 , , .238 , , .500 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 2 , , 12.3 , , .377 , , .326 , , .833 , , 1.9 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 26 , , 32.3 , , .441 , , .353 , , .877 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , .8 , , .3 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 29 , , 31.8 , , .432 , , .360 , , .835 , , 4.7 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , .1 , , 15.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 85 , , 57 , , 25.5 , , .431 , , .352 , , .853 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , , .2 , , 11.6 Source:

Personal life

Juzang's older brother, Christian, played college basketball as a point guard for Harvard, and played in the Vietnam Basketball Association with the

Saigon Heat The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. Saig ...

. He has a younger sister, Lauren.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bioKentucky Wildcats bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juzang, Johnny 2001 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Vietnamese descent American sportspeople of Vietnamese descent Sportspeople of Vietnamese descent Basketball players from Los Angeles Harvard-Westlake School alumni Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Salt Lake City Stars players Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Utah Jazz players