TORONTO — Alfonzo McKinnie’s winding basketball journey to this unlikely stage is a credit to so many humans. Among the most notable: his mother, Elisa Bryant, who raised him, Randy Brown, the former Bulls assistant who cracked open the NBA door and, most of all, himself, the dude who kicked it open with all that work.



But his most recent break — his biggest professional break — was delivered by a man he doesn’t know but who this week may get an in-person thank you note. Patrick McCaw placed a trampoline under McKinnie. McKinnie used it to bounce right into an NBA Finals rotation role.



“Yeah, him not coming back was probably the best thing for my career,” McKinnie told The Athletic this week.



This is an NBA version of “Trading Places,” a 1983 comedy come to life on basketball’s tallest mountaintop.



“Crazy how it’s played out,” McKinnie said. “Unique.