When Jorge Gutierrez left his hometown of Chihuahua, Mexico, at the age of 16 to seek out better competition in his sport of choice, his world suddenly became intimidatingly large.

But he has never flinched.

When Gutierrez, who signed a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 28, enrolled at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, he spoke no English. He roomed with three Spanish-speaking classmates, and the four of them did their own cooking, cleaning and laundry, and paid their own bills.

Lincoln High School is Denver Public Schools’ official English Language Acquisition school, and between a third and a half of its 1,900 students are second-language learners.

Gutierrez took most of his classes in Spanish during his junior year. Always a diligent student, he was able to take most of his senior-year classes in English and amassed a 3.5 grade-point average.

Gutierrez also found the competitive caliber of basketball for which he left home, and he prospered against it. He helped lead Denver Lincoln to the Colorado 4A state championship in his senior season, scoring 18 points in the title game.

He graduated from Lincoln, but being short of credits for college qualification, he enrolled at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev., home to one of the most prestigious prep-school basketball programs in the country.

Gutierrez honed both his English speaking, academic and basketball skills at Findlay, which annually plays one of the most challenging schedules in the country. Its distinguished alumni include NBA players Avery Bradley, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph and Anthony Bennett, and Gutierrez’s teammates included DeAndre Liggins, who went on to play at the University of Kentucky and in the NBA.

In 2007-08, Gutierrez helped lead Findlay Prep’s Pilots to a 30-0 regular-season record. They finished 32-1 after losing by two points in the national prep school championship game.

Gutierrez’s performance at Findlay earned him a scholarship to the University of California, where he carried on the same point guard tradition once championed by the Bears’ most accomplished basketball alum, Jason Kidd.

“I met him while I was at Cal,” Gutierrez said. “I always saw him play and thought he was very good.

“The first time I met him, he was very nice, and he seemed like just a normal guy.”

Gutierrez, playing under coach Mike Montgomery, did Kidd and Cal’s point tradition proud.

Playing just over 18 minutes per game as a freshman, Gutierrez began to build his reputation as a defensive stopper by leading the Bears with 27 steals. He also ranked fifth on the team in scoring.

Gutierrez made major strides as a sophomore, earning 13 starts and making the Pac 10 Conference All-Defensive team despite averaging only 20 minutes per contest.

He repeated as an All-Pac 10 defender in his junior campaign and was also named first-team all-conference after leading his team with 54 steals and averaging a team-high 14.6 points a game. He also excelled in the classroom, landing a spot on the Pac 10 All-Academic Second Team.

During his senior season at Berkeley in 2011-12, Gutierrez averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals, and became the first individual ever to be named Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. He joined Kidd as one of six Cal players to be selected the conference’s Player of the Year.

Gutierrez was not selected in the 2012 NBA Draft, but played for the Denver Nuggets’ summer league team in 2012 before joining Pioneros de Quintana Roo, a Mexican professional team.

He was acquired by the Canton Charge in November of 2012, then signed with the Brooklyn Nets on September 30, 2013, before being reacquired by the Canton Charge during November.

While with Canton, Gutierrez appeared in 35 games, averaging 13.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists (tied for third in the D-League) and 1.2 steals in 32.7 minutes per game. He was named to the NBA D-League All-Defensive Team and All-Rookie Team.

He is grateful for the opportunity he received in the D-League.

“The D-League is tough,” Gutierrez said. “It’s a lot different than up here. You have to appreciate how hard the players play there, because it’s very tough to get to the NBA.

“It’s very competitive. There are a lot of guys that NBA teams send down to get experience. There are a lot of good players just waiting for that chance. It’s good basketball. Every night, you have to bring your ‘A’ game, because every night, someone is watching.”

Gutierrez signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets on March 6, 2014, and made his NBA debut in a 104-89 win over the Sacramento Kings three days later, making him the fourth Mexican to play in the NBA after Horacio Llamas, Eduardo Najera and former Buck Gustavo Ayon.

In just under five minutes of playing time, Gutierrez recorded one point and one steal. On March 17, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Nets, and on March 21, he recorded an NBA career-high 10 points, three rebounds, one assist and one block against the Boston Celtics. On March 28, he inked a multi-year deal with the Nets.

Gutierrez was thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from Kidd, who was completing his first season as an NBA head coach with the Nets.

“He’s just very smart,” Gutierrez said. “He was such a smart player, and being around him as a coach, you learn so much.

“You learn how to pay attention to little details, because little things matter. They’re what win games.”

Gutierrez began the 2014-15 season with Brooklyn, averaging 1.6 points in 10 games before being traded to Philadelphia on Dec. 11. He was waived by the 76ers on Dec. 12 and returned to the D-League in Canton, where he averaged 15.2 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per contest.

On Jan. 28, Gutierrez became the 23rd Gatorade Call-Up of the 2014-15 NBA Development League season when he signed a 10-day contract with the Bucks, who were looking to bolster their backcourt after losing Kendall Marshall to a season-ending knee injury.

The 6-3 guard made his Bucks debut wearing jersey No. 13 on Jan. 29, contributing three points and one assist in six minutes during Milwaukee’s 115-100 victory at Orlando.

“Things here have been great so far,” Gutierrez said. “Everybody’s very nice, and all of the guys here want to improve, which is great.

“Sometimes teams in the NBA get satisfied with what they’re doing, but these guys seem like they really want to improve and they want to win.”