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Skylar Mays

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Skylar Mays
Mays with Fenerbahçe Beko in 2024
No. 19 – Iowa Wolves
PositionPoint guard
LeagueNBA G League
Personal information
Born (1997-09-05) September 5, 1997 (age 27)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeLSU (2016–2020)
NBA draft2020: 2nd round, 50th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2022Atlanta Hawks
2021–2022→College Park Skyhawks
2022–2023Delaware Blue Coats
2023Mexico City Capitanes
2023–2024Portland Trail Blazers
2024Los Angeles Lakers
2024→South Bay Lakers
2024–2025Fenerbahçe Beko
2025–presentIowa Wolves
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Skylar Justin Mays (born September 5, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers.

Early life

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Mays grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and attended the Louisiana State University Laboratory School (U-High), where he began playing on the varsity basketball team in eighth grade.[1] He dunked for the first time as a freshman.[2] He was named first-team All-State in his sophomore and junior seasons as he helped lead the Cubs to back to back state championships. As a junior, he averaged 9.1 points, 8.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds.[1] Mays transferred to Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada before his senior year and averaged 10.9 points, 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals in his only season with the Pilots.[3] Rated a three-star recruit, Mays initially committed to play college basketball at Louisiana State during his sophomore year before re-opening his recruitment to other schools shortly before he transferred to Findlay. Mays eventually re-committed to LSU after considering offers from Baylor, UNLV, Oklahoma State, Memphis, California and Stanford.[4]

College career

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Mays with LSU in 2019

Mays became the Tigers' starting point guard during his freshman year, averaging 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals over 31 games (25 starts).[5] As a sophomore, Mays averaged 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as well as 1.6 steals per game.[6] He averaged 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds 2.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game as a junior and was named second team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the conference's scholar-athlete of the year.[7][8] Mays scored his 1,000th career point on February 26, 2019, against Texas A&M.[9] After the season, Mays declared for the 2019 NBA draft but ultimately opted to return to LSU.[10]

Mays was named preseason first team All-SEC and to the watchlists for the Jerry West and the Naismith Player of the Year awards.[11] He was also named the 45th-best collegiate basketball player going into the 2019–20 season by CBS Sports.[12] Mays scored a career-high 30 points on November 22, 2019, in an 80–78 loss to Utah State.[13] Mays tied his career high with 30 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds on February 8, 2020, in a 91–90 overtime loss to Auburn.[14] At the end of the regular season he was again named a first team Academic All-American and was selected as the Academic All-American of the Year as well as First Team All-SEC and was named the scholar-athlete of the year for a second straight season.[15][16] Mays averaged 16.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.[17]

Professional career

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Atlanta Hawks (2020–2022)

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On November 18, 2020, Mays was selected with the 50th pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.[18] Mays signed a two-way contract with the team on November 24, 2020, meaning he would split time between the Hawks and their NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks.[19] On February 13, Mays scored a career-high 20 points against the San Antonio Spurs, cutting a 45-point deficit to just 11 in the second half.

Mays played for the Hawks in the 2021 NBA summer league, scoring 13 points in 30 minutes on 4-of-11 shooting at his debut in an 85–83 loss against the Boston Celtics.[20] On August 26, 2021, Mays signed a second two-way contract with the Hawks.[21] On April 7, 2022, the Hawks converted his previously signed two-way contract into a standard NBA contract.[22]

Delaware Blue Coats (2022–2023)

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On November 4, 2022, Mays was named to the opening night roster for the Delaware Blue Coats.[23]

Mexico City Capitanes (2023)

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On February 4, 2023, Mays was traded along with Justin Robinson and Raphiael Putney to the Mexico City Capitanes in exchange for Jahlil Okafor, Shabazz Napier, Bruno Caboclo, and Matt Mooney.[24]

Portland Trail Blazers (2023–2024)

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On March 30, 2023, Mays signed a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers[25] and on October 1, he signed a two-way contract with them.[26] After a strong showing in an overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings on November 9 in which Mays scored 18 points and had 11 assists in 37 minutes off the bench[27] he started 5 games for the injury depleted Trail Blazers in which he averaged 12 points and 8.2 assists per game.[28] On November 12, he signed a standard contract with Portland.[29] On January 6, 2024, he was waived by Portland.[30]

Los Angeles / South Bay Lakers (2024)

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On January 8, 2024, Mays signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.[31]

On September 25, 2024, Mays signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves,[32] but was waived on October 15.[33]

Fenerbahçe Beko (2024–2025)

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On October 18, 2024, Mays signed with Fenerbahçe Beko until the end of the season.[34] On January 31, 2025, Mays was released by the Turkish powerhouse.[35]

Iowa Wolves (2025–present)

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On February 5, 2025, he signed with Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League.[36]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 Atlanta 33 0 8.2 .449 .350 .880 1.1 .9 .4 .1 3.8
2021–22 Atlanta 28 5 7.9 .500 .320 .889 .9 .6 .3 .0 2.9
2022–23 Portland 6 6 31.5 .500 .462 .923 3.2 8.3 1.0 .2 15.3
2023–24 Portland 21 5 17.0 .384 .286 .765 1.8 3.6 .7 .1 6.3
L.A. Lakers 17 0 4.5 .476 .400 — .4 .6 .4 .1 1.3
Career 105 16 10.6 .445 .345 .859 1.2 1.7 .5 .1 4.3

Play-in

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2022 Atlanta 1 0 3.3 1.000 – – .0 1.0 .0 .0 2.0
Career 1 0 3.3 1.000 – – .0 1.0 .0 .0 2.0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 Atlanta 7 0 2.4 .800 — — .3 .1 .3 .0 1.1
2022 Atlanta 2 0 4.5 1.000 — — .5 .5 .5 .0 1.0
Career 9 0 2.9 .833 — — .3 .2 .3 .0 1.1

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 LSU 31 25 22.9 .411 .328 .812 2.2 3.6 1.3 .1 8.3
2017–18 LSU 33 30 31.1 .443 .351 .837 4.0 2.9 1.6 .2 11.3
2018–19 LSU 35 35 33.1 .421 .313 .860 3.3 2.1 1.9 .2 13.4
2019–20 LSU 31 31 34.4 .491 .394 .854 5.0 3.2 1.8 .2 16.7
Career 130 121 30.5 .445 .345 .845 3.6 2.9 1.6 .2 12.4

Personal life

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Mays' best friend and LSU teammate, Wayde Sims, was killed by a gunshot wound to the head and neck on September 28, 2018. Mays served as the pallbearer at the funeral.[37] He gave an 11-minute speech in Sims's honor at an on-campus vigil outside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in front of a crowd of hundreds.[2] Mays wore customized Nike basketball shoes by artist Michael Anderson during the 2019 SEC Tournament in honor of Sims.[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b Lopez, Andrew (October 27, 2016). "LSU point guard spot taking shape with Skylar Mays, Jalyn Patterson". NOLA.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Lopez, Andrew (November 14, 2020). "How LSU guard Skylar Mays turned a tragedy into fuel for his dreams of being selected in the 2020 NBA draft". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Thompson, Dillon (February 22, 2019). "Skylar Mays: 4 facts about the LSU men's basketball point guard". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Mickles, Sheldon (November 18, 2015). "Former U-High basketball star Skylar Mays signs with LSU". The Advocate. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  5. ^ Paxton, William (July 29, 2017). "Tremont Waters' Game Draws Praise In Pro-Am". Hartford Courant. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  6. ^ Mickles, Sheldon (May 19, 2019). "Basketball and books: How LSU guard Skylar Mays, an Academic All-American, is making it all work". The Advocate. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Mickles, Sheldon (May 22, 2019). "LSU's Skylar Mays says he's not yet ready to make a decision on his basketball future". The Advocate. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  8. ^ Just, Amie (March 12, 2019). "LSU basketball trio racks up All-SEC coaches awards". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  9. ^ Adam, Brandon (February 26, 2019). "Skylar Mays becomes 41st player in LSU history to reach 1000 points". The Daily Reveille. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  10. ^ Just, Arnie (May 28, 2019). "LSU's Skylar Mays, Marlon Taylor withdraw from NBA Draft". The Times Picayune. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  11. ^ Embody, Billy (November 5, 2019). "Skylar Mays, Javonte Smart land on All-SEC preseason teams". 247Sports.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  12. ^ Boone, Kyle; Norlander, Matt; Parrish, Gary (October 24, 2019). "Ranking the Top 100 And 1 best players in college basketball entering the 2019-20 season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  13. ^ "LSU basketball lets 19-point lead slip away in brutal Utah State loss". The Advocate. November 22, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  14. ^ "Mays scores career-high 30 in No. 18 LSU OT loss to No. 10 Auburn". WAFB.com. February 8, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  15. ^ Mickles, Sheldon (March 9, 2020). "LSU's Skylar Mays is chosen Academic All-America of the Year by CoSIDA organization". The Advocate. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  16. ^ "SEC announces 2020 Men's Basketball Awards" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  17. ^ Crawford, Kirkland (March 16, 2020). "The 2020 NCAA tournament that could have been: South region". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  18. ^ Moore, CJ (November 18, 2020). "Skylar Mays goes to the Atlanta Hawks: Here's what they're getting". The Athletic. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  19. ^ Finberg, Annie (November 24, 2020). "Hawks Sign Onyeka Okongwu, Skylar Mays and Nathan Knight". NBA.com. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  20. ^ "Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks Aug 8, 2021 Box Scores | NBA.com". NBA.com. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  21. ^ Rehmann, Arman (August 26, 2021). "Hawks Sign Skylar Mays To Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  22. ^ "Atlanta Hawks Convert Contract of Skylar Mays". NBA.com. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  23. ^ "Blue Coats Announce Opening Night Roster". oursportscentral.com. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  24. ^ "2022-23 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  25. ^ "TRAIL BLAZERS SIGN SKYLAR MAYS TO 10-DAY CONTRACT". NBA.com. March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  26. ^ "Trail Blazers Sign Skylar Mays To Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  27. ^ "Kings 121-118 Trail Blazers". ESPN.com. November 8, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  28. ^ "Skyler Mays 2023-24 NBA Per Game Splits". ESPN.com. January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  29. ^ porfgomez (November 12, 2023). "Trail Blazers Convert Skylar Mays To Standard NBA Contact". NBA.com. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  30. ^ "Trail Blazers Waive Skylar Mays and Ish Wainright". NBA.com. January 6, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  31. ^ "Lakers Sign Skylar Mays to Two-Way Contract". NBA.com. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  32. ^ Nardinger, Taylor (September 25, 2024). "Timberwolves Sign Trevor Keels, Jaedon LeDee, Skylar Mays and Eugene Omoruyi". NBA.com. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  33. ^ Timberwolves PR [@Timberwolves_PR] (October 15, 2024). "NEWS: @Timberwolves Waive guard Skylar Mays" (Tweet). Retrieved October 15, 2024 – via Twitter.
  34. ^ "Skylar Mays Fenerbahçe Beko'da". Fenerbahce.org (in Turkish). October 18, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  35. ^ Maggi, Alessandro (January 31, 2025). "Fenerbahce, Skylar Mays officially part ways". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  36. ^ "Wolves Acquire Skylar Mays; Waive Kok Yat". iowa.gleague.nba.com. February 8, 2025. Retrieved February 9, 2025.
  37. ^ Norlander, Matt (February 23, 2019). "Forever 44: How a teammate's murder has brought LSU together and fueled the Tigers' inspired season". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  38. ^ Morris, Raykael; Abusada, Nadeen (March 10, 2019). "LSU guard Skylar Mays honors former teammate Wayde Sims during game against Vanderbilt". WBRZ. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
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