One of the best stories of the Los Angeles Lakers preseason was the rise of undrafted guard Quincy Olivari.
Olivari became a favorite of his teammates, coaches and fans with his play and overall attitude and his standout performances against the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors put the Lakers in a position where they felt they had to keep him around.
The franchise did just that, signing Olivari to a two-way contract and releasing center Colin Castleton in order to open up that spot. It was a well-deserved moment for Olivari, who would reveal exactly how he found out the Lakers were signing him.
“I found out, my agent called me as I was coming back from the facility,” Olivari told Lakers Nation. “Nick Mazzella, he had texted me, I was at Jaxson Hayes’ house and he had texted me. He apologized because he heard that I was up at the facility and I just left and he was asking could I come back and I was telling him yeah. I was at Jaxson Hayes’ house which is about 13 minutes from the facility, not far. But it’s not just right around the corner so I just told him yeah, I’m not doing anything, I told Jaxson I got to go because Mazzella told me I had to come back to the facility.
“As I was pulling up, my agent called me and anytime he calls, I got to pick up. Recently, anytime he calls, it’s good. So I pick it up and he was just like yeah, they’re about to call me back to the facility. Before he said anything, I just said could we add my mom to the call and he called her and I called my dad and joined them in. And he just said yeah, the Lakers are about to convert you.”
The fact that Olivari was able to share that moment with his parents makes it that much more special, but once again it was completely deserved. Olivari shot 57.1% from 3-point range while providing a ton of energy and effort defensively as well.
And what makes Olivari special is that, while he is very excited about this accomplishment, he knows he can’t afford to relax yet. “I was just like, I was happy, but deep down I knew that how I had played in the preseason, I had put myself in position to receive a call like this, whether that was from the Lakers or another team,” Olivari added.
“But I was just excited, I was real happy for myself. But this was one of the things I was grinding for in my journey, but this isn’t something that makes me at all want to relax or take a break or anything. It’s just like OK, like I did it, I’m on the roster. But I want to get something that can set my family up.”
Olivari led the Big East in total points at Xavier last season while shooting 40.9% from deep in his final collegiate season. That skillset combined with his mindset and work ethic should only lead to great things in his future.
Stephen Curry shouts out Lakers’ Quincy Olivari on Instagram
Following his excellent performance in the Lakers’ preseason finale against the Warriors, Quincy Olivari had the chance to chat with Stephen Curry, who was his favorite player growing up. Olivari was nearly brought to tears talking about the moment, but it clearly stood out to Curry as well.
The Warriors superstar would take to Instagram to give a shout out to Olivari, calling him ‘Real as they come.’ There are undoubtedly plenty of young players who take these moments to speak with a future Hall of Famer like Curry, but the fact that he felt inclined to publicly praise Olivari says so much about the Lakers’ newest two-way player.
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