James Wiseman and Lester Quinones: Coming Up Together

James: Me and Lester most definitely had that relationship on and off the court, like high school, college. We support each other just by empowering and uplifting one another.

Lester: It's crazy honestly. I could remember the first time, me kind of hitting him up to just play together at Memphis. So it's crazy that we're actually now at that next level playing together in the NBA.

James: Me and Lester met through social media just talking with each other about our stats and stuff.

Lester: And then it kind of just grew from there, throughout high school.

James: We talked about going to college together. We created that whole plan.

Lester: He was like, actually my roommate there.

James: Soon as we got on campus, that's when we just started going out together and just started going places, going to the gym together.

Lester: Just really getting closer off the court on that level. We're all excited to see him play and stuff, but then the injury kind of holding him back. I feel like it made me grow a little bit closer to him, just talking to him about that, his mental space. Really just being there for him in his corner throughout that whole process was kind of big. But fast forward and then now, I'm actually a part of the team and to actually have somebody that I actually know and can talk to, I feel like it's just comforting.

James: We always had that chemistry on and off the court, so just being able to play with him, going to be great. I can't wait for that.