Quentin Grimes returns home to Houston as a big part of the Knicks' core
Quentin Grimes #6 of the Knicks celebrates a three pointer in overtime against the Chicago Bulls at United Center on December 14, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Getty Images/Michael Reaves
HOUSTON — It’s just a half-hour drive to the Toyota Center from The Woodlands College Park High School in the suburbs outside downtown Houston, but it's a long path from the time when Quentin Grimes was earning All-American honors five years ago to Saturday night, when he made his first NBA appearance back home.
He didn’t arrive as he might have wanted — coming off a 1-for-10 shooting night in San Antonio and with the Knicks riding a five-game losing streak. But he was home, and he did have plenty to celebrate.
Grimes never got to face the hometown Rockets last season. He sat out the first meeting in New York, when he was not yet a regular part of the rotation. Then, after producing a breakout performance with 27 points on Dec. 12, 2021, he was forced to sit out the next five games — including the trip home — as he entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
"It’s good,” Grimes said of playing in Houston. “Just knowing I missed the game last year, so I’m excited to go back down there, my first time playing back home in front of all my family and friends, so it should be fun.”
Last season, he had his breakout performance two games ahead of what would have been his return to Houston. Now he has established himself as a starter, a key piece of the Knicks' rotation and future and maybe the best two-way player on the roster.
Grimes scored a career-high 33 points Tuesday in the overtime loss in Dallas. In 19 games since becoming a regular starter, he has averaged 12.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 33.8 minutes and taken on the assignment of defending the best opposition perimeter threat every game.
The path here wasn’t as direct as it might have seemed when he was young. He grew up with an athletic pedigree — his father, Marshall Grimes, played at Santa Clara and Louisiana-Lafayette and his mother, Tonja Stelly, played two seasons at Fort Hayes State before transferring to Kansas. His half-brother, Tyler Myers, plays for the Vancouver Canucks, making them the only brothers to be playing in the NBA and NHL.
Grimes was the first player in his high school’s history to start every game as a freshman. By his senior year, he was a McDonald’s All-American and ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 10 prospect — a list that had current teammates RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish ranked first and second, respectively.
He committed to the University of Kansas and scored 21 points in his debut but struggled to find his place there. After declaring for the NBA Draft and attending the NBA Draft Combine, he opted out of the draft and transferred home to the University of Houston, excelling for two seasons under coach Kelvin Sampson before the Knicks made him the No. 25 overall pick in the 2021 draft.
His opportunities came sparingly last season; he earned a spot but then was sidelined by COVID and injuries. After a star turn in the Las Vegas Summer League, he entered the season behind incumbent starter Evan Fournier, but it was just a matter of time before he took that spot.
A foot injury slowed that move, but he took over as a starter on Nov. 20 and has been as steady a part of the Knicks' core as any of the high-salaried pieces. He has had to guard Luka Doncic — he did so better than Doncic's historic 60-point triple-double might indicate — and speedy point guards such as Trae Young and Ja Morant, fighting defensively in a way that endears him to coach Tom Thibodeau, who lobbied for the team to draft him.
It’s enough to make his return special, and the stands at the Toyota Center on Saturday night figured to be dotted with plenty of familiar faces — at least 40 on his own guest pass list.
“Yeah, expecting a lot of people there,” Grimes said. “I must be doing something right if they’re coming out on New Year’s Eve.”
Thibodeau had no concern about the pressure getting to Grimes in his return home.
“I think you’re going to get everything he has,” he said. “That’s what you love about him. Whether it’s practice, a game, home, road, there’s a consistency to him. I think that’s important. Just go out there and play as hard as you can. I think if you’re doing the right things, good things will come.''
