Jordan McRae has definitely had a whirlwind year with playing with six different teams this season in the NBA and NBA D-league but in the end he ended the season as a NBA champion with the Cavaliers.

McRae played in 61 games 2015-2016 basketball season and spent majority of it playing for the Philadelphia 76ers D-League team, the Delaware 87ers. He played and started in all 29 games while he was with the 87ers and averaged 23.3 points per game which was fourth best in the D-league. He also earned a starting nod in the D-league’s all-star game.

McRae’s  most memorable moment as a 87er is when he set the all-time single scoring game scoring record at the time by scoring 61 points against the Canton Charge. The record was later broken by his fellow 87er teammate Russ Smith who scored 65 points in a game.

That 61 point performance helped land the young guard a 10-day contract with the Phoenix Suns where he averaged 5.3 points per game in 11.8 minutes per game. After spending 20 days with Suns he was not signed to a full contract and he went back to the D-league.

McRae then got a call to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as a reserved guard and he reveled in the playing time he was able to get at the Cavs. McRae played in 15 games for the Cavs in the regular season including the season finale where he played 47 minutes and scored 36 points.

McRae said this after that high scoring season finale game: “Having a game like I did tonight does a lot for my confidence,” said McRae after his big night. “But the biggest thing was hearing that ‘Bron, Shump and all of my peers were proud of me and that I played well. To hear that from those caliber of guys – K. Love, Kyrie, Swish – that feels good.”

Lebron James echoed that at the Cavs championship parade via the Tennessean:  “I look over here at Jordan McRae,” James boomed into a microphone Wednesday, pointing to McRae on a stage in downtown Cleveland, after a parade attended by about 1.3 million fans. “A young guy that came to our team from the D-League and automatically just bought in to what we wanted to do. And he was ready to do anything that we asked of him.”

For McRae it was a dream come to true to get to play with Lebron James he told the Tennessean:

“I mean, LeBron is our Jordan,” McRae said of the way his generation views James.

“Playing with him is something I never thought would happen,” McRae continued. “Being around him just makes you want to work harder. And he was great to me. All these guys here, they embraced me and took me in. It’s been unreal, how I got here, all the places I’ve been and then ending up here.”

Jordan McRae started the year at the bottom in the D-league and now he is on top as a NBA Champion.