Lester Quiñones
Lester Quiñones | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 16, 2000 United States |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player |
| Years active | 2019–present |
| Known for | Playing for New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Tigers |
Lester Quiñones ( ; born November 16, 2000) is a Dominican-American professional basketball athlete who most recently played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the National Basketball Association (NBA) under a two-way contract with the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He attended St. Benedict's Preparatory School and completed a postgraduate season at IMG Academy prior to competing at the collegiate level with the Memphis Tigers.
Early life and high school career
Raised in Brentwood, New York, Quiñones began playing basketball in sixth grade. He spent his first two high school years at Brentwood High School, then transferred to Upper Room Christian School located in Dix Hills, New York. During his junior year, he averaged 19.3 points per game and was recognized on the 2017 Long Island Basketball honor roll.
For his final high school season, he enrolled at nationally acclaimed St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey, where he teamed up with five-star recruit Precious Achiuwa. Quiñones delivered 23 points in a critical victory over top-ranked Hudson Catholic Regional High School, contributing to a 28–2 team record and securing a top 10 national ranking by MaxPreps. In the summer circuit, he represented New Heights in the Under Armour Association, posting averages of 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds.
In the 2018–19 season, Quiñones transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida for a postgraduate year. There, he posted averages of 24 points, nine rebounds, and six assists per contest while shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Recruiting
Completing both his high school and postgraduate tenure as a consensus four-star recruit, Quiñones committed on May 10, 2019, to play collegiate basketball at Memphis under coach Penny Hardaway. He had also considered offers from programs such as Indiana.
College career
With teammate James Wiseman sidelined due to eligibility complications, Quiñones achieved his first double-double on November 16, 2019, posting 21 points alongside 10 rebounds in a dominant 102–56 win over the Alcorn State. Shortly thereafter, he earned recognition as the American Athletic Conference freshman of the week. However, a broken right hand sustained on November 23 during a game against Ole Miss caused him to miss three weeks of action. By the end of the season, Quiñones secured a place on the American Athletic Conference All-Freshman Team after averaging 10.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. Following his junior year, he declared for the NBA draft.
Golden State / Santa Cruz Warriors (2022–2024)
After not being selected in the 2022 NBA draft, Quiñones signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors on July 5, 2022. He made his debut for Golden State’s squad during the NBA California Classic Summer League event, recording seven points, five rebounds, and two steals despite a loss to the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors waived him on October 13.
Subsequently, on October 15, 2022, Quiñones joined the roster of the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s affiliate in the NBA G League. On February 25, 2023, he tallied an impressive 42 points along with eight rebounds in a narrow 112–119 defeat against the Salt Lake City Stars.
Quiñones signed a short-term contract with Golden State on March 2, 2023; however, he did not appear in any games before returning to Santa Cruz ten days later. On March 17, he secured a two-way contract with Golden State and made his NBA debut on March 31 against the San Antonio Spurs, logging one minute and grabbing his first rebound. On April 4, he was honored with the title of NBA G League Most Improved Player.
He re-signed another two-way deal with Golden State on July 24, 2023, which was later converted into a standard NBA contract on February 22, 2024. On March 3 of that year, Quiñones led Golden State in both scoring and minutes during a decisive loss to the Boston Celtics.
Philadelphia 76ers / Delaware Blue Coats (2024)
On September 26, 2024, Quiñones inked a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, but he was released on December 3.
Birmingham Squadron / New Orleans Pelicans (2024–2025)
Quiñones joined the Birmingham Squadron on December 6, 2024. His impressive performances in the G League earned him a two-way deal with the New Orleans Pelicans on March 3, 2025. He made his debut on March 24, playing a role in the Pelicans’ 112-99 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers.
National team career
Quiñones competes internationally for the Dominican Republic national basketball team. At the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship held in St. Catharines, Ontario, he represented the under-18 squad, averaging 17.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across six contests, helping the team secure sixth place. A notable performance featured him scoring 31 points with seven three-pointers during a defeat to Puerto Rico.
Personal life
Born in the United States, Quiñones possesses Salvadoran, Dominican, and Puerto Rican heritage. On the international stage, he competes for the Dominican Republic.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 4 || 0 || 4.5 || .400 || .500 || .667 || .8 || .5 || .3 || .0 || 2.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 37 || 0 || 10.6 || .397 || .364 || .690 || 1.9 || 1.0 || .2 || .1 || 4.4 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 4 || 0 || 4.3 || .500 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.0 || .3 || .0 || .0 || 2.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans | 9 || 0 || 18.4 || .386 || .317 || .833 || 1.7 || 2.6 || .3 || .2 || 8.6 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 54 || 0 || 11.0 || .397 || .346 || .729 || 1.7 || 1.1 || .2 || .1 || 4.8
College
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 26 || 23 || 29.4 || .402 || .313 || .804 || 3.8 || 2.2 || .8 || .1 || 10.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 28 || 28 || 26.3 || .432 || .400|| .672|| 5.8||1.9|| .9|| .2||9.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 33|| 30||27.2|| .449|| .390|| .750||3.5||1.3|| 1.2|| .1||10.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |87||81||27.6||.429||.369||.752||4.3||1.8||.9||.1||10.1