Christopher Theoret Duarte (born June 13, 1997) is a Dominican professional basketball player for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Northwest Florida State Raiders and the Oregon Ducks. At Northwest Florida State, he was named

NABC NJCAA Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate A ...

in 2019. At Oregon, he received the 2021 Jerry West Award as the nation's top collegiate shooting guard. He was selected 13th overall by the

in the

2021 NBA Draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

. Duarte was selected to

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

honors.

Early life and high school career

Duarte was born and raised in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. His father was Canadian & died when Duarte was six months old. He shared a love of basketball with his older brother Jean Michel. He moved to New York to play his final two years of high school basketball at Redemption Christian Academy in Troy. He participated in the 2017 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game. Ranked the fifth-best player in New York by

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, Duarte originally committed to play college basketball for Western Kentucky but instead started his career at Northwest Florida State College.

College career

Northwest Florida State (2017–2019)

In his freshman season for Northwest Florida State College, Duarte averaged 12.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and two steals in 23.3 minutes per game, earning first-team All- Panhandle Conference honors and helping his team reach the Elite Eight round of the NJCAA Division I Championship. On September 20, 2018, he announced that he would continue his career at NCAA Division I program Oregon after one more season at Northwest Florida State. As a sophomore, Duarte averaged 19 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, helping his team return to the Elite Eight round of the NJCAA Division I Tournament. He scored 32 points on 11-of-13 shooting against Palm Beach State College. He was recognized as

and was a first-team NJCAA Division I All-American. Duarte was also named Panhandle Player of the Year by both the media and coaches vote.

Oregon (2019–2021)

Duarte made his debut for Oregon on November 5, 2019, against Fresno State, finishing with 16 points in a 71–57 win. On December 29, Duarte scored a junior season-high 31 points, shooting 12-of-15 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point range, to go with six assists and five rebounds in a 98–59 win over

Alabama State Alabama State University (ASU) is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lin ...

. One day later, he was named

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Player of the Week. On January 23, 2020, Duarte recorded 30 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals in a 79–70 victory over

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. He set the Matthew Knight Arena record for single-game steals and became the first Division I player with at least 30 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals since

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

Alvin Young Alvin Jerome Young (born November 12, 1975) is an American professional basketball player. Early life Young was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He learned to play basketball at the church wher ...

in 1999. Duarte was subsequently named Pac-12 Player of the Week for his second time and

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

(USBWA) National Player of the Week. He finished the season averaging 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, collecting both All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Pac-12 All-Defensive honorable mention. During the 2020–21 season, Duarte led the Ducks to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen of the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

. On April 3, 2021, Duarte was named recipient of the 2021 Jerry West Award as the top shooting guard in men's collegiate basketball. Duarte was additionally recognized as the AP Pac-12 Player of the Year and an AP Third Team All-American. On March 29, 2021, Oregon head coach Dana Altman indicated in a press conference that Duarte would enter the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2021–present)

Duarte was selected with the 13th pick in the

by the

. On August 4, 2021, he signed a rookie scale contract with the Pacers. On October 20, Duarte made his NBA debut, recording 27 points on 6–9 three point shooting, five rebounds along with a steal to set the Pacers' franchise record for the most points in a rookie debut, in a 123–122 loss to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

. Duarte participated in the NBA's 2022 Rising Stars Challenge alongside teammate Tyrese Haliburton. On April 4, 2022, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a toe injury. Duarte was selected to the 2022 NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 55 , , 39 , , 28.0 , , .432 , , .369 , , .804 , , 4.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Indiana , 46 , , 12 , , 19.5 , , .369 , , .316 , , .847 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 101 , , 51 , , 24.1 , , .410 , , .347 , , .821 , , 3.4 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .2 , , 10.7

College

NCAA Division I

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Oregon , 28 , , 28 , , 30.1 , , .414 , , .336 , , .795 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oregon , 26 , , 26 , , 34.1 , , .532 , , .424 , , .810 , , 4.6 , , 2.7 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , 17.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 54 , , 54 , , 32.0 , , .473 , , .380 , , .803 , , 5.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , .7 , , 14.9

JUCO

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

Northwest Florida State Northwest Florida State College is a public college in Niceville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Northwest F ...

, 32 , , 1 , , 23.3 , , .546 , , .367 , , .700 , , 6.7 , , 1.8 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 31.1 , , .541 , , .400 , , .808 , , 7.1 , , 2.5 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 19.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 65 , , 34 , , 27.2 , , .543 , , .388 , , .765 , , 6.9 , , 2.2 , , 1.6 , , .7 , , 15.6

References

External links

Oregon Ducks bio

Northwest Florida State Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Chris 1997 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players Dominican Republic basketball players Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in the United States Dominican Republic men's basketball players Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Mixed-race Dominicans National Basketball Association players from the Dominican Republic Northwest Florida State Raiders men's basketball players Oregon Ducks men's basketball players People from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Shooting guards