If you watched the late-2010s Knicks, you know there were a lot of players that came and went, usually as a last gasp for their careers. In fact, it’s not a coincidence that many of the players who suited up for that team saw their NBA careers go up in smoke shortly after. As such, you don’t hear about these players much. It feels like they fell off the face of the earth and you’re asking “Hey, what ever happened to this guy?”
That question is one that I will look to answer for a number of guys who were in our hearts during difficult times. Today, we will start with a fan favorite who played more games as a Knick during the desolate period between 2014 and 2019 than everyone else, aside from captains Lance Thomas and Carmelo Anthony. He recently showed up on Celebrity Row (or Alumni Row?) during the playoffs. KOQ himself, Kyle O’Quinn.
Part of the reason why O’Quinn became a fan favorite was that he was born and raised in Queens. His ascension to basketball wasn’t one of glamour. He left his original high school in Flushing for the Math, Science Research & Technology High School in Cambria Heights, however that decision was originally for football. Through his junior year, he had hardly played any varsity basketball and strongly considered quitting to focus on football, where he was the school’s starting quarterback. Things changed as a senior, as he put up 20 and 10, made First-Team All-Queens, and Third-Team All-PSAL. The 6’10” big man only received one Division I scholarship, from the MEAC’s Norfolk State.
Maybe if O’Quinn played today, he could’ve finished his collegiate career at a Power Five (Six? Is it Five now because the PAC12 is dead?) school via the transfer portal, but he slowly became a star as a Spartan. After coming off the bench as a freshman (where he shot 37.8% from 3!), he burst into the starting lineup and became Norfolk State’s leading scorer as a junior, averaging 16.4 PPG.
After a disappointing season for the team, Norfolk State, led by O’Quinn, posted a 26-10 record in 2011-12, their best season by a country mile in program history. Some of their more impressive performances came in defeats, such as their rare non-conference rematch against a #16 Marquette team with Jae Crowder and Juan Toscano-Anderson in late November, losing by just two in the Paradise Jam Final in St. Thomas after a 31-point defeat just one week earlier in the Bradley Center. Their non-con was highlighted by wins over Drexel and Virginia Tech, but they made their money in conference play, going 13-3. In the unfortunate reality of the MEAC, Norfolk State had to win the tournament to get to March Madness.
Which they did, surviving a grudge match against Bethune-Cookman in the MEAC title game to get to the Dance as a 15-seed. They’d be matched up with a formidable 30-4 Missouri team spearheaded by Marcus Denmon and current Providence coach Kim English. 15-seeded Norfolk State entered as a 21-point underdog in their March Madness debut. As they did against Marquette earlier in the season, they refused to let Missouri shrug them off and took a late lead. Missouri had the ball with three seconds left, down 2, but Phil Pressey’s shot was off at the buzzer, with the final rebound falling into the hands of O’Quinn, capping off a dominant 26-point, 14 rebound effort that put him on the map. Unfortunately, the joy of the upset would last two days before 7-seed Florida obliterated the Spartans, 84-50.
After he was named MEAC POY and DPOY, O’Quinn declared for the draft and was picked 49th overall by the Orlando Magic. KOQ debuted in Orlando as a bench player, only starting five games as a rookie, never becoming a full-time starter for an Orlando team that missed the playoffs in all three years he was there. One of the few games he started, though, was a 23/11 performance in which he shot 11-for-14 against the woeful Charlotte Bobcats in March 2013, which had the Magic jump Charlotte in the standings, improving to 18-54.
After modest improvement and more playing time, O’Quinn was up to 17 minutes a night and averaged 6.2 points and 5.3 rebounds in 2013-14 before a role reduction after the Magic drafted Aaron Gordon in 2014. This set the stage for O’Quinn to look elsewhere when he hit free agency, and he did. KOQ cashed in with a four-year, $16 million pact (rich for a player of his production at the time) with his hometown Knicks in a sign-and-trade that also netted the Knicks a late-2nd round pick in 2019, which became Ignas Brazdeikis.
O’Quinn had a modest start to his first year in orange and blue, only starting one game and averaging 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. He put up a 19-point game off the bench (made two threes!) in a February 2016 game against Indiana and had a 10/10 double-double in his second game as a Knick. Ultimately, O’Quinn got a massive raise from his time in Orlando but the lowest playing time of his career. That changed in 2016-17 when he got back to his Orlando playing time.
Finally, when the Knicks exited the Carmelo Anthony Era after the 16-17 season, O’Quinn got a chance to shine in the largest role of his career, playing a career-high 18.0 MPG, shooting a career-best 58% from the field, and having career highs in points (7.1) and rebounds (6.1). He would mostly back up Kristaps Porzingis and Enes Kanter but saw his role expand after Porzingis’ Knicks career ended with an ACL tear (16.6 MPG to 21.0 MPG). Still, he put together a monstrous 20/15 off the bench early in the season and started the final few games as the Knicks threw in the towel on another lost season. O’Quinn recorded eight double-doubles and showed a propensity to be a big man threat off the bench (he had a 15/16/5/4 stat-stuffer in one of his final games). The question is often asked “How many times have the Knicks had a willing big man that can shoot? Kyle O’Quinn attempted 56 threes as a Knick and only hit 11. Still, that would be on par with Precious Achiuwa.
As much as he loved New York and New York loved him, O’Quinn opted out of his contract and signed a $4.5 million deal with the Indiana Pacers for 2018-19. O’Quinn would be seldom used, posting just three starts and 8.2 minutes a game across 45 games. In 2019-20, O’Quinn signed with the 76ers, playing 29 games in a similarly reduced role. Although he never made the playoffs as a Knick, he got to play in two in garbage time as a Pacer and 76er.
And then, he was gone. O’Quinn did not sign anywhere, seemingly searching for a last gasp, until January 2021 with Fenerbahçe in Turkey. O’Quinn did alright in a limited role in the EuroLeague but performed very well in nine games against Turkish Super League competition, averaging 11 points and six rebounds on a bonkers 78.6% from the field in 19.4 minutes a game. O’Quinn would leave for Paris Basketball ahead of the 2021-22 season, where he played 23.9 minutes a game (most in any basketball league since college) and averaged 10.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. He started shooting more threes, making them at a 31% clip for 2.5 att/G, but his efficiency fell off, shooting just 48.6% from the field. O’Quinn would leave France after that year, barely missing out on an opportunity to play against Victor Wembanyama of Metropolitans 92 a year later.
O’Quinn signed to play in China for the Sichuan Blue Whales for the 2023-24 season. As of right now, I believe he is still under contract there. In six CBA games last year, he averaged 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds on a sub-standard 42.6% from the field. Part of his efficiency decline since his time in Turkey is shooting way more threes, where he just simply doesn’t have as much success.
Kyle O’Quinn is now 34 years old. There is no telling how long he’s willing to play overseas or how long he’ll get offers to play professionally. That said, it’s good for him to have acknowledged this new Knicks team and come home to Madison Square Garden in the playoffs, something he was never able to reach on the court playing for a dysfunctional Knicks team. I’m still rooting for Kyle and hope that, maybe one day, he can suit up in the NBA again. But with his last game being just a hair over four years ago, that seems unlikely.
