Skylar Mays
Skylar Mays | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 5, 1997 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player |
| Years active | 2016–present |
Skylar Justin Mays (born September 5, 1997) is a professional American basketball player currently competing for Budućnost in the Montenegrin Prva A Liga, as well as participating in the ABA League and EuroCup. He played collegiate basketball representing the LSU Tigers.
Early life
Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mays attended the Louisiana State University Laboratory School (U-High), where he joined the varsity basketball squad during eighth grade. He achieved his first dunk in his freshman year. Throughout his sophomore and junior seasons, Mays earned first-team All-State distinctions and played a pivotal role in securing back-to-back state titles for the Cubs. His junior year statistics included averages of 9.1 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game. Prior to his senior season, he transferred to Findlay Prep located in Henderson, Nevada, where he posted averages of 10.9 points, 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.7 steals during one season.
Classified as a three-star recruit, Mays initially pledged to LSU during his sophomore year but briefly reopened his recruitment process before moving to Findlay Prep. After weighing offers from Baylor, UNLV, Oklahoma State, Memphis, California, and Stanford, he ultimately reaffirmed his commitment to LSU.
College career
Mays secured the starting point guard position at LSU as a freshman, averaging 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.3 steals across 31 games (with 25 starts). His sophomore campaign saw improvements to 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per contest. In his junior year, he posted averages of 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, earning second team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors as well as the SEC scholar-athlete of the year award. He surpassed the milestone of 1,000 career points on February 26, 2019, in a matchup against Texas A&M. Following his declaration for the 2019 NBA draft, Mays decided to return to LSU.
Before starting his senior year, Mays was selected for the preseason first team All-SEC and appeared on watchlists for both the Jerry West Award and Naismith College Player of the Year. CBS Sports ranked him as the 45th-best college player for the 2019–20 season. He recorded a career-high of 30 points twice: initially on November 22, 2019 versus Utah State, and again on February 8, 2020 against Auburn, where he also contributed eight assists and seven rebounds. By the end of the regular season, Mays averaged 16.7 points along with five rebounds per game.
For a second consecutive year, he was named first team Academic All-American and earned Academic All-American of the Year honors while also receiving First Team All-SEC recognition and repeating as SEC scholar-athlete of the year.
Atlanta Hawks (2020–2022)
Mays was selected with the 50th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks on November 18, 2020. He inked a two-way contract on November 24 that same year, dividing his playing time between Atlanta and their NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. On February 13, he achieved a personal best by scoring 20 points in a game against the San Antonio Spurs, contributing to a remarkable second-half comeback that narrowed a 45-point deficit to just 11.
During the 2021 NBA summer league, Mays scored 13 points in his debut appearance despite an 85–83 loss to the Boston Celtics. On August 26, 2021, he secured a second two-way deal with Atlanta before it was converted into a standard NBA contract on April 7, 2022.
Delaware Blue Coats (2022–2023)
Mays was included on the Delaware Blue Coats’ roster for their season opener on November 4, 2022.
Mexico City Capitanes (2023)
On February 4, 2023, Mays was part of a trade package alongside Justin Robinson and Raphiael Putney to the Mexico City Capitanes. This transaction involved the exchange of Jahlil Okafor, Shabazz Napier, Bruno Caboclo, and Matt Mooney.
Mays secured a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers on March 30, 2023, and later obtained a two-way contract with the team on October 1. Following an impressive showing off the bench on November 9—where he tallied 18 points and 11 assists—he started five games due to injuries within the squad, averaging 12 points and 8.2 assists per game. On November 12, he signed a standard NBA contract with Portland but was waived on January 6, 2024.
Los Angeles / South Bay Lakers (2024)
Mays agreed to a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on January 8, 2024.
He then signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves on September 25, 2024, but was released from the roster on October 15.
Fenerbahçe Beko (2024–2025)
On October 18, 2024, Mays joined Fenerbahçe Beko for the remainder of that season. The Turkish club parted ways with him on January 31, 2025.
Iowa Wolves (2025)
Mays signed with the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League on February 5, 2025.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 33 || 0 || 8.2 || .449 || .350 || .880 || 1.1 || .9 || .4 || .1 || 3.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 28 || 5 || 7.9 || .500 || .320 || .889 || .9 || .6 || .3 || .0 || 2.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland | 6 || 6 || 31.5 || .500 || .462 || .923 || 3.2 || 8.3 || 1.0 || .2 || 15.3 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland | 21 || 5 || 17.0 || .384 || .286 || .765 || 1.8 || 3.6 || .7 || .1 || 6.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Lakers | 17 || 0 || 4.5 || .476 || .400 || — || .4 || .6 || .4 || .1 || 1.3 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career | 105 || 16 || 10.6 || .445 || .345 || .859 || 1.2 || 1.7 || .5 || .1 || 4.3
Playoffs
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2021 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 7 || 0 || 2.4 || .800 || — || — || .3 || .1 || .3 || .0 || 1.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2022 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 2 || 0 || 4.5|| 1.000|| —|| —|| .5|| .5|| .5|| .0||1.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career |9||0||2.9||.833||—||—||.3||.2||.3||.0||1.1
College
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17 | style="text-align:left;"| LSU | 31 || 25 || 22.9 || .411 || .328 || .812 || 2.2 || 3.6 || 1.3 || .1 || 8.3 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2017–18 | style="text-align:left;" | LSU | 33 || 30 || 31.1 || .443 || .351 || .837 || 4.0 || 2.9 || 1.6 || .2 || 11.3 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2018–19 | style="text-align:left;" | LSU | 35 || 35 || 33.1 || .421 || .313 || .860 || 3.3 || 2.1 || .9 || .2 || 13.4 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2019–20 | style="text-align:left;" | LSU | 31 || 31 || 34.4 || .491 || .394 || .854 || 3.5 || 3.2 || 1.8 || .2 || 16.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan= "2"| Career | 130 || 121 || 30.5 || .445 || .345 || .845 || 3.6 || 2.9 || 1.6 || .2 || 12.4
Personal life
Wayde Sims, a close companion and teammate of Mays at LSU, was tragically killed by gunfire on September 28, 2018. Mays took on the role of pallbearer and gave an emotional tribute lasting eleven minutes during a campus vigil attended by a large crowd. In remembrance of Sims, he sported specially designed Nike basketball shoes created by artist Michael Anderson throughout the 2019 SEC Tournament.