When RJ Luis Jr. steps onto an NBA court for his debut, he’ll also make history as the first Ecuadorian ever in the league. So ahead of his rookie season with the Celtics, Luis was honored by Ecuador president Daniel Noboa recently for his achievement. Luis’ mother was born in Ecuador while his father was born in the Dominican Republic.
Luis, 22, is entering his rookie season and has already seen what life’s like in the NBA. He originally signed a two-way contract with the Jazz in hopes he could stick it out in the league. But just weeks later, he was dealt to the Celtics in the Georges Niang trade.
The Celtics were interested in signing Luis to a two-way deal originally, so they were able to land the former UMass and St. John’s wing. Now, wearing the No. 12 Celtics jersey, he’s set to enter his first professional season of his career. Once he makes his NBA debut, that’ll also mark history as the first Ecuadorian player.
Luis started his collegiate career with UMass during the 2022-23 season, where he was named to the Atlanta 10 All-Freshman team. But where he broke out on the national stage was this past year with St. John’s. Luis was the Big East Player of the Year as the Red Storm won both the Big East regular season and tourney crowns.
Luis averaged 18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 35 games for St. John’s last season. As Luis is on a two-way contract, he’ll play plenty of minutes with the Maine Celtics in the G League. But he’ll likely have an opportunity to be with the main club for some stretches where he could potentially make his NBA debut.
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