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
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
Atlanta Hawks (2020–2022)
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)
On November 4, 2022, Mays was named to the opening night roster for the Delaware Blue Coats.[23]
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]
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.[35] 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.[36]
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