SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The career arc for someone who begins to play competitive basketball as a high-school junior usually ends right where it started: in high school.
Kyle O’Quinn defied those odds.
The career arc for a late second-round NBA draft pick typically offers few guarantees. If a player is fortunate, he’ll remain in the league for a couple of years and then cobble together some seasons overseas.
O’Quinn, the 49th pick in 2012, beat those odds, too.
Occasionally, O’Quinn will say to himself, “Look at where I was, and look where I am now.”
“I get those moments when I’m with my parents,” O’Quinn said. “They know everything I’ve done from Day One. So when we all reminisce about where I came from … we’re like, ‘We’re really blessed as a family.’ I’m really fortunate to have coaches through high school and college and now in the NBA to give me a chance.”
Just how far O’Quinn has progressed was obvious again when his Orlando Magic faced the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night. O’Quinn was expected to start his fourth consecutive game in place of injured center Nikola Vucevic, and O’Quinn was a key reason why the Magic had a chance to complete their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record.
After he was ejected from the Magic’s loss Wednesday night to the Los Angeles Clippers for committing a questionable Flagrant 2 foul, he scored 13 points and blocked two shots in a 98-93 victory Friday night over the Utah Jazz.
At 6-feet-10, O’Quinn gives the Magic a big man who runs the floor well, passes adeptly and possesses a sound midrange jumper.
He also plays with a toughness the rest of the team sometimes lacks. Two nights after his Flagrant 2 foul on Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin — an infraction even Griffin said shouldn’t have been ruled a Flagrant 2 — O’Quinn received a less severe Flagrant 1 foul for hitting Jazz point guard Trey Burke as O’Quinn followed through on a block attempt.
Now in his third season, O’Quinn has emerged as one of the Magic’s emotional leaders, someone who helps bind teammates together.
“My theory is with Kyle, if I had a daughter I would let him date my daughter,” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. “He’s a good dude, so I know there’s no intent [to hurt opposing players] behind [the recent flagrant fouls]. He’s just trying to be aggressive and protect our paint.”
O’Quinn has gained a solid foothold in the NBA, and people who watch the league closely — opposing coaches and executives — say he does little things to help his team win even if those contributions don’t always show up on the box score.
Although he missed 15 consecutive games with an ankle injury this season, he’s been one of Orlando’s most productive players. He entered Saturday leading the team in Player Efficiency Rating, an advanced statistic designed to measure a player’s impact per minute.
The average PER is 15.0.
O’Quinn began Saturday with a PER of 26.2.
His agents no doubt will remind league executives about that number when he becomes a restricted free agent in July. Because he’ll be only 25 years old and because he plays two positions — including center, where there is a dearth of talent — he could command a big payday.
“I approach it the same way as if I knew how much I’ll make next year,” O’Quinn said. “I’m big on my faith, and I think God has a plan for me. And whatever happens, happens.”
It’s been a whirlwind rise for O’Quinn, who was raised in the New York City borough of Queens. He attended Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va., because it was the only school that offered him a scholarship to play basketball.
Most of his Magic teammates, including Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris, have played basketball their entire lives.
Yet O’Quinn reached the NBA even though he started playing the game in 2006, at the age of 16.
“Being from New York growing up and not really hearing about him as a player and to now see the way he’s just progressing, even from the time when I got here, it’s pretty amazing to see,” Harris said.
“But it’s not surprising to me because he works so hard and he’s always trying to learn. He’s got a smart IQ for the game.”
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
