The story of Jorge Gutierrez is one that we hear about once every so often from our parents before being tucked in for bed. The Mexican developed a strong kinship with the game in his home of Chihuahua but a lack of basketball opportunity in his homeland led Gutierrez and his family to cross into the United States illegally in pursuit of his, very real, hoop dreams.
Settling in Colorado at age 16, Gutierrez attended Denver’s Lincoln High to play organized basketball. Despite living in a shared apartment with a group of other undocumented Mexican teenagers, who too were fighting for their dreams of success on the basketball court, facing poverty and frequent hunger pains, Gutierrez excelled at Lincoln High and persevered through disappointment of the lack of interest colleges took in his ability.
It wasn’t until his post-grad year that Gutierrez’s perseverance began to pay off after accepting a scholarship offer from UC Berkeley where he made a name for himself as a player willing to put his body on the line and carry out courageous hustle plays. This commitment and attitude over his four-year standing with Berkeley paved the way for winning 2012 Pac-12 Player of the Year honors as a senior and reaching the star status he longed for.
Having gone un-drafted in the 2012 NBA draft, he joined the Denver Nuggets for the Summer League and in August of that same year tried out for Partizan Belgrade but subsequently was not signed. Jorge returned to Mexico in October after his session in Serbia where he joined Pioneros de Quintana Roo of Cancun for the rest of the 2012 LNBP season.
However, an almost instant turn of fortune set Gutierrez on a path that would only lead upwards.
Having been selected by the Canton Charge in the second round of the 2012 NBA D-League draft, Gutierrez played throughout the season with the Charge to an impressive enough degree that NBA scouts finally came calling. On March 6th, 2014 Jorge Gutierrez signed with the Brooklyn Nets on a 10-day contract and made his NBA debut on March 9th in a 104-89 win over the Sacramento Kings managing 1 point and 1 steal in almost 5 minutes of playing time. Little as his individual results were, it was impressive enough to satisfy Brooklyn and a second 10-day contract came the Mexican’s way. Four days later, Gutierrez scored an NBA career high of 10 points plus 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in 114-98 win over the Celtics.
Having won over the trust of Brooklyn management by his performance, On March 28th Jorge Gutierrez signed a 2-year deal with the Brooklyn nets.
Coach, Jason Kidd, approved, labeling the brand-new Net “Awesome.”
He went on to comment on his fellow Berkeley attendee, “Tough kid … sprained his ankle and kept playing, he knocked down shots For the 20 days he’s been here, he’s been awesome.”
After a grueling life of ups and downs, the 6’3 walking fairy-tale is complete. Currently averaging a decent 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 13.4 minutes per game, Gutierrez gives the Brooklyn Nets two rookies on its roster along with Mason Plumlee and a total of 3 international players in Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, Mirza Teletović of Bosnia & Herzegovina and of course Jorge Gutierrez himself.
Jorge Gutierrez’s signing makes him the fourth Mexican national to play NBA basketball after Horacio Llamas, Eduardo Najera and Gustavo Avon.
