First career basket makes Kings’ Neemias Queta first Portuguese player to score in NBA
Kings rookie Neemias Queta scored the first basket of his career in a 109-108 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night at Golden 1 Center, becoming the first player from Portugal to score in the NBA.
Queta got extended minutes for the first time this season with Richaun Holmes and Damian Jones out due to NBA health and safety protocols and Tristan Thompson out due to right quad soreness. Queta finished with 11 points, five rebounds, one steal and one assist in 23 minutes.
“I felt good,” Queta said. “I felt like the last few games I got a couple opportunities to get a shot up, but it just didn’t fall. I feel like today, once I knew I was going to get a shot, I think everything just calmed down and I felt a lot more relaxed. At the end of the day, it’s just basketball. This is something we work for our whole lives and we just feel comfortable in there, so whenever the opportunity comes, we just have to take advantage of it.”
Queta checked in for the first time with 5:36 remaining in the first quarter. He wasted little time before getting on the scoreboard.
Queta’s first basket came on an assist from Buddy Hield with 5:02 to play in the opening period. The 7-foot center caught the pass cleanly and swished a high arching floater in the lane.
“I was just really excited for him,” Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “Obviously, you all know he’s a fan favorite, a league favorite, a country favorite, so I’m just excited for him. He came out here and made plays, made good defensive plays, made layups for us, set great screens. I thought he just had a great overall game and he’s been performing well in the G League, so it’s not much of a surprise. We know what he’s capable of.”
Queta became the first Portuguese player to reach the NBA when the Kings selected him out of Utah State with the 39th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He became the first player from Portugal to appear in an NBA game when he made his Kings debut in a 124-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 17.
Queta has appeared in only four games for the Kings this season. He went into Monday’s game averaging 0.0 points and 1.7 rebounds in 3.3 minutes per game.
Queta has appeared in 13 games for Sacramento’s G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, averaging 16.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
“I thought Neemie was really, really good,” interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry said. “Obviously, it’s his first time really playing any NBA minutes, and I thought he went out and did a good job, had some big rebounds, tried to finish it at the basket strong like we like him to. ... I thought he was really, really good.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 10:03 PM.
