Without a doubt one of the best stories of the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason was the rise of Quincy Olivari. The undrafted guard performed so well in the preseason that the Lakers had to keep him around on a two-way contract.
He notably went viral after getting emotional while discussing meeting his childhood hero, Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry for the first time, but as it turned out their connection didn’t stop there.
It was revealed that Olivari had signed a shoe deal with Curry’s Under Armour brand, making him only the second active player in the NBA to do so, joining Sacramento Kings All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox.
It is without a doubt a special moment for Olivari, and the Lakers’ two-way guard called signing with Curry and Under Armour a blessing before opening up on how everything came about, via Raj Chipalu of Clutch Points:
“It’s a huge accomplishment. I think playing into the little joke that was going on in the preseason, it feels like [NBA] 2K, almost like a video game. But it’s a blessing and it’s just a reap what you sow type of thing, just continuing with my hard work. Just making sure that I keep the main thing the main thing and more blessings will come.
“From there, just how it came about was just after the interaction in San Francisco Steph and his party just kind reached out saying they wanted to take care of me with some gear and I asked them if I can connect them with my agent, just develop a relationship and see where it could go. One thing led to another and here we are about a month and a half later. It’s official.”
It is amazing how things can come full circle like this and Olivari has earned this deal with Under Armour. While he hasn’t appeared for the Lakers main roster yet this regular season, he has been excellent down in the G League for the South Bay Lakers. In six games he is averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 41.5% from 3-point range.
Olivari is putting in the work to make his dreams happen and the rewards are already coming. With the Lakers struggling, and injuries mounting up, it could only be a matter of time before the young guard gets an opportunity to show what he can do on the big stage as well.
Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell believes Quincy Olivari is too good for the G-League
Quincy Olivari’s teammates certainly believe in him as well and one of his biggest fans is D’Angelo Russell. The point guard was in attendance for the South Bay Lakers’ season opener where Olivari knocked down seven 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 28 points and Russell discussed what he told Olivari afterwards.
“I just told him to stay humble,” Russell said of his conversations with Olivari. “It honestly looked like he was too good for being out there, respectfully. But I know how that can get you high and then have a bad game and it gets you lower, that’s just what it is, so I just told him to stay even-keeled.”
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