You don't know him, but you have definitely seen him before.

Rewinding to the moment Joel Embiid came closest to reaching the conference finals: in the decisive Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals, Embiid voluntarily switched onto Leonard, who jumped from the right baseline, released a fadeaway shot, the ball bounced four times on the rim, and then shattered Embiid’s heart.

After Leonard’s shot, a man in a suit on the Raptors’ bench crouched down simultaneously with Leonard to watch the ball bounce on the rim. Thanks to his perfect position, this suited man also became part of this iconic moment captured in a famous photo.

The suited man is named Jordan Loyd, a name you probably haven’t heard because he only played 12 NBA games, all with the Raptors during the 2018-19 season, averaging just 2.4 points per game, a role even more “benchwarmer” than Jeremy Lin at the time.

At that time, Loyd was just a two-way contract player for the Raptors and didn’t even appear in the playoffs, so he wore casual clothes. Since he only played 12 games, apart from that famous photo, it’s almost impossible to find other pictures of Loyd on an NBA court.

In fact, Loyd went undrafted in 2016 and spent two seasons in the G League before earning a two-way contract with the Raptors. After luckily winning a championship, he left the NBA and chose to develop his career in European leagues.

Loyd has played in the Russian, Serbian, and Israeli leagues, all top European clubs. Unable to sustain a career in the NBA, Loyd has thrived in Europe’s basketball scene.

In the 2023 French League Finals, Loyd’s Monaco team swept the Metropolitans 3-0, the team of Victor Wembanyama. Loyd earned Finals MVP honors by scoring 22 points and hitting two crucial three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

The reason I’m writing about Loyd today is because of his recent career-best performance at the European Championship. This guy, who only played 12 NBA games and was fortunate enough to get a championship ring, now stands shoulder to shoulder with NBA stars, performing just as well.

This year, the Polish national team naturalized Loyd to replace Slaughter, who once scored 22 points against China’s men’s basketball team. In his first official game representing Poland, Loyd stunned everyone.

Against Slovenia, Loyd shot 9 of 14, including 7 of 8 from three-point range, exploding for 32 points and matching Luka Dončić’s scoring pace. After the game, Loyd humbly said, “Luka is Luka; I’ve given him my utmost respect and recognition, but tonight our team was superior.” His 32 points ranked as the fourth-highest debut score in the European Championship.

In the next two games, Loyd led Poland to victories over Israel and Iceland, finishing the group stage undefeated and advancing early. He scored 27 and 26 points in those games, clearly establishing himself as Poland’s most reliable scorer and perfectly fulfilling the role of a naturalized player.

After three group games, Loyd averaged 28.3 points per game, ranking fourth on the scoring list behind Dončić, Lauri Markkanen, and the two-game Giannis Antetokounmpo. Behind him are familiar names like Schröder, Avdija, Wagner Jr., Larson (Heat), Şengün, and Jokic.

Among the top ten scorers, Loyd is the only non-NBA player. Even more impressively, alongside his 28.3 points average, he shot 61.9% from three-point range, ranking sixth in the tournament. Across three games, he made 13 of 21 threes, despite shooting only 5 of 1 in the third game, after near-perfect shooting in the first two.

Loyd’s breakout is not really surprising. Having played five years in European leagues, he has become a top-tier guard there. He is very familiar with the system and doesn’t need to adapt like NBA players do, which is why Poland chose to naturalize him.

Loyd is already 32 years old and has almost no chance of returning to the NBA. But perhaps he doesn’t want to go back to a place where he once struggled. Europe is simply a better fit for him. When he retires, he can boast to friends over a beer: “NBA champion? I’ve got one. Luka Dončić? I’ve beaten him too.”