EL SEGUNDO — Quincy Olivari has received an abundance of adulation and praise during his journey from Lakers’ Exhibit-10 signee and preseason standout to the franchise’s newest two-way contract player.
He received it from his teammates and coaching staff.
He got it from Steph Curry, Olivari’s favorite player growing up, with the Golden State Warriors star on Saturday posting a picture on Instagram of him and Olivari from Friday’s preseason finale with the caption “real as they come.”
Olivari even got the attention of Lakers icon Magic Johnson for his vulnerable postgame press conference on Friday night when Olivari got emotional talking about how it meant to have his 22-point performance against the Warriors in front of Curry.
“It meant a lot – he’s a legend,” Olivari said of Johnson’s Sunday post on X (formerly Twitter) acknowledging him. “And then for the Lakers, that’s a huge name to have a co-sign from. I was actually unpacking, and I just happened to be on my phone, and I was just scrolling and I was like, ‘Oh, thanks Magic!’
“Kind of ‘liked’ the tweet. I know he wasn’t going to see it if I responded, but I definitely showed it to my dad, showed it to my mom, my agent. They were like, ‘This is a big deal out here in L.A.’ So just real grateful, thankful that he was able to give me those positive words.”
The positivity didn’t stop there.
Less than 12 hours after the preseason finale and after saying he just wanted a job in the NBA, Olivari signed a two-way contract with the Lakers to become a part of the roster entering the 2024-25 season.
The Lakers will open the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
“I was very confident after the Golden State game that I put myself in [a] position to receive a two-way, I just didn’t know where,” Olivari said after Sunday’s practice. “But it wasn’t until yesterday around 11, I had just left the facility after a massage. [Pro personnel senior director] Nick Mazzella, texted me and said, ‘Hey, Quincy, I heard that you just were up here. Sorry, but can you come back?’
“And as I was coming back – I was at (teammate) Jaxson Hayes’ house – and when I came back, as I was pulling into the facility, (Mazzella) calls me and basically just – I call my mom, I call my dad, and we’re all on the phone – he said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to convert you to a two-way.’
“And it was just like, ‘Oh, this is really happening.’”
An undrafted 6-foot-2 guard out of Xavier who started his college career at Rice, Olivari was the Lakers’ preseason standout performer.
He sparked the team’s comeback victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee on Oct. 10, the team’s first preseason win under coach JJ Redick, scoring 11 fourth-quarter points in nine minutes.
Olivari finished the preseason with averages of 8.8 points (52.5% shooting, 57.1% from 3-point range) and 3.5 rebounds in 13.4 minutes.
“This ain’t my end goal in life, but it’s another milestone that I’ve completed and accomplished and I’m just ready,” Olivari said. “I’m just glad I was able to come back here to practice [Sunday], honestly. I woke up and I was like, ‘It might be early, I might still be tired, but there’s some people that don’t have this blessing that I have so I’m just going to take full advantage.’ It changed my whole mindset.”
Related Articles
Lakers sign preseason standout Quincy Olivari to two-way contract
How JJ Redick ‘caught the bug’ and became the Lakers’ head coach
Quincy Olivari, Bronny James shine as Lakers sit rotation players in lopsided preseason finale
Dalton Knecht, Anthony Davis lead LeBron-less Lakers to preseason victory over Suns
The Audible: On SoCal’s two sports obsessions, the Dodgers and the Lakers
In order to make room for Olivari on the roster, the Lakers waived big man Colin Castleton.
“We’re excited for Quincy,” Redick said. “Really appreciate Colin and the work that he’s put in. Just felt like, given our roster construction and Quincy’s play in preseason, prior to the start of camp and during the last 20 days, he was deserving of a two-way contract. We’re excited to have him in our program and think he’s about the right things, which is the type of people we’re trying to bring in here. And that’s not to say that Colin wasn’t about the right things either. I mean, Colin and I had a conversation yesterday. We’re really appreciative of Colin.”
HACHIMURA UPDATE
Starting forward Rui Hachimura, who missed the last two preseason games because of calf tightness, assured that he’ll be available for the season opener after going through Sunday’s practice.
“I feel better now,” Hachimura said. “We had kind of tough preseason. So, my calf was kind of feeling it. But I’m fine now.”