NBA debut for Knicks' Kevin McCullar Jr.: A night to remember
Knicks guard Kevin McCullar Jr. is defended by Dallas Mavericks guard Brandon Williams in the second half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It was just one basket, late in a game that the Knicks had already won.
On the surface, there was nothing special about the 3-footer that Kevin McCullar Jr. banked off the glass with a little less than two minutes left in the Knicks’ 128-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Yet, put into context, it’s hard to underrate the significance of the moment to the Knicks rookie that some observers have nicknamed Josh Hart Lite.
McCullar was sidelined for almost a year with a bone bruise in his left knee before scoring two points in his NBA debut Tuesday. Now, he and the Knicks are hoping that the basket signals an end to the long, difficult road he has had to travel since the injury cut short his senior season at Kansas last year.
“It’s been rough, but I kept my head on straight,” McCullar said after going 1-for-2 in 3:09 of play. “Adversity makes you who you are and everybody goes through it in different ways in life.”
When McCullar first injured his knee in January 2024, he didn’t think it was a big deal. In fact, he tried to play through portions of the season when he was shut down before last year’s NCAA Tournament. McCullar ended up getting his knee scoped, meaning that he was on crutches when he attended the NBA Draft Combine in May.
The 6-5 guard had been projected in at least one mock draft to go late in the first round, while most others had him going early in the second. The knee injury apparently scared off a number of teams, meaning the Knicks were able to take him with the 56th overall pick and then put him on a two-way contract his rookie season.
It wasn’t until Jan. 31 that McCullar finally completed his rehabilitation and was able to step back on the basketball court, scoring 10 points in 16 minutes for the Westchester Knicks in a G League game against the Osceola Magic. After posting back-to-back triple-doubles a week ago for Westchester, the Knicks rewarded him by putting him on the active list for Tuesday’s game against the Mavericks.
Of course, being on the active roster and actually getting some playing time are two very different things for players at the end of Tom Thibodeau’s bench. This might go a long way toward explaining why McCullar felt a little stunned when Thibodeau gave him the nod when the Knicks had a 24-point lead with 3:09 left.
“When I checked in, I was kind of in a fog,” McCullar said. “Like, I’m really about to do it and get in there and that’s what I worked for my whole life. So, when I was out there and did it, it was a relief for sure just knowing that I’m back out there and competing and now got to keep building on it.”
A huge cheer erupted from the Knicks bench after McCullar scored as his teammates knew what he had gone through to get back on the court.
“We have a great group of guys. Kevin has worked extremely hard and he’s been through a lot,” Thibodeau said. “His rehab was long and arduous and he’s worked his way through that. He started playing in the G League and put together some good games in G League. This is his first opportunity and there’s an appreciation for the way he’s worked.”
The appreciation was so pronounced that Josh Hart, who set a Knicks record when he posted his ninth triple-double of the season, decided that it was McCullar, not he, who deserved the game ball.
“That record is cool and a blessing, but at the end of the day that record’s going to get broken at some point,” Hart said. “Hopefully, later rather than sooner. But that’s going to get broken. Getting your first NBA points, nobody can take that away from you. It’s important that he had that, got the game ball for that. That’s an easy decision for me.”
McCullar may have gotten the game ball, but he also got sent back to Westchester.
While the players who had been his teammates on Tuesday were hosting the Clippers on Wednesday, McCullar was back at the County Center for a playoff game against the Maine Celtics.
So goes the life of a two-way player.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
