In July 2017, this dude showed up in Salt Lake City as an unsigned practice player with Utah's summer league team, got his tooth knocked out during a scrimmage, went to the hospital, and came back that night for another practice. That's how desperate O'Neale was for an NBA job.
Now he's a rotation fixture for playoff team, mostly because of plays like this:
Luol Deng leaning away from him to bother
Joe Ingles, and knows he has an alley that will close fast.
He does not pause. He does the opposite of pausing. He is already running toward the rim before Ingles' pass hits his hands, to the point that he risks leaving the ball behind. O'Neale is so decisive, and shifts into top gear so fast, it's almost alarming. You worry he's going to crash into the basket stanchion, or just lose control of his body and fall over.
But O'Neale understands how the defense will rotate once he beats Deng, and when
Derrick Favors might come open. Snuff that, and O'Neale toggles to another option; he has the floor mapped in his head:
Jae Crowder in the corner -- so O'Neale, under the rim and in midair, mind you, throws a fastball to
Donovan Mitchell.
O'Neale knows he's not going to play 30 minutes or take a bunch of shots, so he goes all-out on defense. He's feisty, and often guards the best opposing scorer. He's
really strong. Oh, he's also shooting 40 percent from deep.