Jalen Suggs

Suggs was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Larry Suggs and Molly Manley, and has two younger sisters, Jennica and Jaelle. His father was an accomplished local athlete, and athletic achievement runs across his extended family. Suggs is a cousin of NBA guards Tyrese Haliburton and Eddie Jones, and a second cousin once removed of two-time Super Bowl champion linebacker Terrell Suggs.

Several other cousins in his family have played NCAA Division I basketball, including D'Marr Suggs and Renard Suggs. In addition to his family's sports background, Suggs has relatives with military backgrounds, including a great-grandfather, a great-uncle, and a cousin who served in the United States Armed Forces.

Suggs attended Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, where he earned a starting role on the varsity basketball team as an eighth grader. Over his high school career, he led the school to three consecutive Class 2A state championships from 2017 to 2019. His senior basketball season ended abruptly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving him as Minnehaha Academy's all-time leading scorer with 2,945 career points. He received first-team MaxPreps All-American honors and was named Minnesota Mr. Basketball.

Suggs was also a standout quarterback and defensive back in football for the SMB Wolfpack, a cooperative team representing Minnehaha Academy and three partner schools. He guided SMB to a Class 4A state title as a junior in 2018 and a state runner-up finish as a senior in 2019, earning the Minnesota Mr. Football award. With these accomplishments, Suggs became the first athlete in Minnesota history to win both the state's Mr. Basketball and Mr. Football awards in the same academic year, earning national MaxPreps Male Athlete of the Year honors.

Rated as a consensus five-star recruit, Suggs became the highest-ranked recruit in Gonzaga program history when he committed in January 2020. He made an immediate impact during his collegiate debut on November 25, 2020, scoring 24 points and dishing out eight assists against Kansas. Later that season, he scored a college career-high 27 points while making seven three-pointers in a victory over Iowa.

Suggs earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2021 West Coast Conference tournament, guiding the Bulldogs to a conference championship and an undefeated regular-season record. In the Final Four of the 2021 NCAA tournament against UCLA, Suggs banked in a 40-foot three-point buzzer-beater in overtime to secure a 93-90 win and advance Gonzaga to the national title game. He finished his single college season averaging 14.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, earning consensus second-team All-American status and WCC Newcomer of the Year honors before entering the NBA draft.

The Orlando Magic selected Suggs with the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft. After making his debut in October 2021, his rookie campaign was interrupted by a thumb fracture that sidelined him for 20 games, followed by offseason ankle surgery. In his second season, he continued to expand his role in the rotation, highlighted by a game-winning three-pointer against the Chicago Bulls in November 2022.

During the 2023-24 season, Suggs started all 75 regular-season games he played, averaging 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game while helping Orlando reach the playoffs for the first time in four years. In the postseason, he scored a playoff single-game best of 24 points during Game 3 of the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Suggs was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, becoming the third player in franchise history to receive an All-Defensive selection and the first since Dwight Howard in 2012. In October 2024, he agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Magic.

Suggs achieved success on the international stage representing the United States in junior competitions, earning three gold medals. He won his first gold at the 2017 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Argentina, followed by another gold medal run at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup.

At the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, Suggs started all seven games for the undefeated United States roster. He averaged 9.6 points and 2.4 steals per game, scoring a tournament-high 15 points in the gold-medal final against Mali. In 2024, Suggs was selected to train with the USA Select Team in Las Vegas alongside the national team preparing for the Paris Olympic Games.