Royce O'Neale muscles way into Jazz lineup with toughness, grit

Royce O’Neale isn’t supposed to be a rotation guy for the Utah Jazz. He’s not even supposed to be in the NBA.

Making the best league in the world and thriving is usually reserved for those on a specific path. The player becomes a superstar in high school and on the AAU circuit before sifting through hundreds of college offers. Then it’s on to success at the collegiate level. Next comes the draft, where the player shakes hands with commissioner Adam Silver before joining an NBA team.

None of that happened with O’Neale. The door didn’t open for him. So he had to kick it open.

“It’s been a long road,” he said.

He got hurt in high school and began his college career at the University of Denver. He transferred to Baylor, where he was a role player. He went undrafted out of college and played two seasons overseas. He got two teeth knocked out by an elbow and ended up at the University of Utah Medical Center receiving dental work in his first summer league workout with the Jazz.

“It was certainly one step at a time,” O’Neale said. “It hurt when I didn’t get drafted because that’s everyone’s dream. But I had a bunch of teams that were interested, and I did well in summer league. It’s been a great experience, so far.”

The Jazz start their longest road trip of the year Saturday in Milwaukee against the Bucks. It’s six games against some of the best teams in the league. And O’Neale will come off the bench as a guy who can do a bit of everything starting with the Bucks.

He once was a question mark to make the roster, and the battle for the last spot with Joel Bolomboy went down to the last day. But O’Neale is with the Jazz because he can defend, is a good passer and has good size for a wing at 6 foot 7. He is such a good rebounder for a wing that teammates chide him for taking caroms away from Rudy Gobert. He can play three positions offensively and defend every position except center.

That versatility ultimately is what won him the final roster spot. But his intangibles and resilience endeared him to Utah’s front office as much as his physical traits.

“You hear all the time how people are tough,” Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said. “Royce is legitimately tough. When we had him here for mini-camp, his play impressed coaches. When he played with a tooth knocked out, we thought this guy has what it takes.”

O’Neale’s rookie season has given him more opportunity than anyone could have imagined with injuries to Rodney Hood, Joe Johnson and Dante Exum. And O’Neal’s has made the most of those minutes.

He scored a career-high 11 points while adding seven rebounds and six assists in Monday’s win over the Washington Wizards. He’s averaging 17 minutes over his last five games, and Jazz coach Quin Snyder hasn’t been afraid to play him in the clutch. The rookie has delivered when called upon.

“He’s one of my closest friends on the team,” fellow Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell said. “He’s always here getting a workout, so to see it all coming to fruition with him is great. We live in the same building, so we’re always around each other. He does a little bit of everything. He’s a better scorer than people realize. We’re proud of him right now.”

O’Neale’s toughness extends off the court. When Hurricane Harvey devastated his hometown, O’Neale immediately left Utah to check on his family in Houston.

Thankfully for O’Neale, the flooding didn’t affect his mother or family as much as it could have. At the same time, he wanted to help. He wanted to be there.

“Driving through downtown, you could see the major affect,” O’Neale said. “You could see the flooding, the highways closed, the damage. Where my mom lives, there was just power outage. But there were places that were hit much harder. It was tough.”

The remainder of the season is promised to O’Neale, but playing time isn’t. The Jazz eventually will get healthy with Hood and Johnson coming back. But even if the playing time dries up and O’Neale’s status slides back toward the end of the roster, he’s made his mark in the last three weeks.

He knows now more than ever that he belongs in the league.