TORONTO -- When Lance Thomas played for Duke, he didn't think about the walk-ons much. When he was at St. Benedict's Prep, he didn't pay much attention to the guys at the end of the bench. Now, he admires them. Once a highly-touted recruit, Thomas left Durham in 2010 and found himself playing for the D-League's Austin Toros. It can sound phony when athletes say they've been humbled, but with him there is no other way to put it.

Thomas has been waived three times by NBA teams since arriving in Austin. He was classified as undersized a thousand times before his versatility was seen as a strength. He can tell you about going undrafted, signing 10-day contracts and playing in China. This year, while a 7-foot-3 Latvian has attracted all the attention for his unlikely rise with the New York Knicks, Thomas has quietly earned a secure spot in their rotation. He will do anything to keep it.

"Every team I've played for so far, I had to make the team," Thomas said. "It was like the roles were reversed for me. It just makes me very appreciative of the journey, of the grind."

Knicks center Robin Lopez remembers Thomas trying to hold on to a roster spot in New Orleans, calling him "definitely one of the two hardest-working guys I know in the league." The other one is Damian Lillard.

In a 12-and-a-half-minute interview, Thomas said, "I trusted my work" five times. The phrase has become something of a motto for him, as he's put a #TrustYourWork on all of his Instagram photos lately. When you're on the margins of the best league in the world, that trust will be tested repeatedly.

Lance Thomas assesses his options. (USATSI)

Thomas signed his first NBA contract with the New Orleans Hornets on Dec. 9, 2011, the day after the lockout ended. He played just four minutes for them before they waived him on New Year's Eve. A week later, he was back in Austin.

New Orleans eventually signed him for the rest of the season, but only after a pair of 10-day contracts. Most games, he had no idea when or if he'd get to play. He got something out of it, though.

"I learned how much harder I have to work to stick," Thomas said. "I learned how to become a professional. Coach Monty Williams really was a great mentor for me as far as teaching me how to be a professional, things that I can do to separate myself."

In the D-League, Thomas saw other players trying to score as much as possible. They thought that big numbers might get them noticed by NBA scouts. Thomas, though, averaged just 10 field goal attempts, fewer than guys like Julian Wright, Justin Dentmon and Leo Lyons. Hungry to prove doubters wrong, he looked at the big picture and stayed within himself.

Hearing Thomas' name makes former Toros teammate Cory Joseph smile wide. Joseph, a fellow D-League success story, described him as an "incredible hard worker" who was always serious about winning.

"My approach in the D-League was different from a lot of guys," Thomas said. "I just put two and two together. Teams are already paying guys millions of dollars to score those amount of points, so what can you do to separate yourself and carve out a niche? Very rarely does a guy come from the D-league and become a really big-time scorer.

"I just wanted to go out and show teams that I could defend multiple positions," he continued. "I felt like that was valuable. I felt like playing hard every possession is valuable, and being a guy that's not a distraction in the locker room is valuable. I stuck to that, I didn't change my formula. Even now, I haven't changed my formula, I'm just taking it to another level."

Lance Thomas still lives in New Orleans in the summer. (USATSI)

Thomas' minutes remained inconsistent when he was called back up to New Orleans, but he fell in love with the city and moved there full-time. In the summer of 2013, he signed a partially-guaranteed deal with the newly renamed Pelicans. Then, seven games into the season, they cut him. Thomas was 25 years old and a free agent with career averages of 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds.

He had always wanted to stay in the States, but decided to go to China and play for the Guangdong Foshan Dralions after Christmas. He was happy to return home when the season ended in mid-February, but liked the intense fans and the tough coaching.

"Guys think that when you don't make the NBA, you go other places, you can go lollygag and you're going to still be fine because you've had NBA experience or you're from the States," Thomas said. "But these guys want to win. Each team can only have two Americans, so if you're not doing your job you'll get replaced."

Thomas played for the Chicago Bulls' summer league team in 2014, then earned himself an invite to the Oklahoma City Thunder's training camp. He impressed the coaching staff with his ability to guard smaller players, and then-Thunder center Kendrick Perkins told the Oklahoman that the book on how to make a team should be called "The Lance Thomas Story."

Oklahoma City was stacked up front, so Thomas became a small forward. His playing time was plentiful when the team was banged up, but it evaporated when Kevin Durant came back from his first foot injury at the beginning of December. About a month later, Thomas was traded to New York and waived immediately. The Knicks brought him back for two 10-day contracts, then, just like when he was a rookie, he signed for the rest of the year.

Lance Thomas dunks against his former team. (USATSI)

Born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey, Thomas grew up a Knicks fan. It's an "unbelievable experience" and a "dream come true" to play at home, he said, but when he first checked in for New York, the team was 30 games under .500.

"It was a very bleak situation," Knicks forward Lou Amundson said.

Amundson, who was acquired by New York at the same time as Thomas, said it would have been easy for a team like that to fall apart. Along with D-League call-up Langston Galloway, it was their job to prevent that from happening. When franchise player Carmelo Anthony was ruled out for the season after the All-Star break, the Knicks wanted to see who would play hard and stay positive.

"The guys who really showed that are still here," Thomas said.

Thomas started 24 games for New York last season and started to expand the range on his jumper. When Knicks president Phil Jackson evaluated everybody at the end of the season, he said Thomas had "a funny release and a funny gait," but he "can be extremely valuable getting significant minutes off the bench."

For the first time in his pro career, Thomas did not have to play in summer league. New York re-signed him to a one-year deal in July.

"We talked about Lance a lot and what he means to our team, not just on the court but the culture and the environment we're trying to create on a daily basis in terms of practice and pre-practice workouts, mentality, mindset," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said. "He was an example of all of those things. So not the biggest name in the league, not the biggest name on our team, but just as valuable."

On Dec. 21, Thomas went 9-for-9 against the Orlando Magic for 24 points. That included three 3-pointers. Shortly thereafter, Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters Thomas should be in the Most Improved Player conversation. Per 36 minutes, Thomas is averaging 14.6 points and 3.6 rebounds, making 47 percent of his shots and 42 percent of his 3s while guarding point guards and power forwards. Amundson called him an anchor on defense and New York's most consistent player.

If he keeps playing like this, he will be in line for a massive raise in a few months. Thomas, though, would rather talk about making the playoffs for the first time.

"There's still snow in New York, so the summer is very far away," he said. "I'm locked in."

Lance Thomas makes some Knicks fans happy in Philadelphia. (USATSI)

On Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, Thomas had the toughest job in the building: guarding Durant. Anthony sat out with knee soreness, and the Knicks managed to take the Thunder to overtime. Thomas finished with 16 points to Durant's 44, but no one could fault his 41 minutes of effort.

Durant, who has referred to Thomas as his "favorite player and favorite person in the league," told Thomas how happy he was to see him in this position. The respect is mutual.

"We were really going at each other for a span of time, but my hat goes off to him," Thomas said. "I learned a lot from him. He has a great approach to the game. Even when he was hurt with his foot, he had his boot on and was still shooting sitting down, doing form shots, doing whatever he can to keep his rhythm and everything. That was very admirable."

At the Air Canada Centre on Thursday, New York was even more shorthanded: No Anthony, and no rookie phenom Kristaps Porzingis, who was ill. The Toronto Raptors were riding a nine-game winning streak and the excitement of DeMar DeRozan being named an All-Star shortly before tipoff.

Before the game, Thomas sat at his locker in the warmup shirt and shorts of his favorite team as a kid, head down, hands clasped, preparing to start and check DeRozan. How did the journeyman get here?

"Determination," Thomas said. "I just kept fighting."