In the broader NBA landscape, the Denver Nuggets' matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans on Dec. 15, 2017 won't exactly stand out in the annals of history.
Though, for free agent acquisition of the Milwaukee Bucks, Torrey Craig, the events of that night and the 24 hours proceeding are still vividly etched in his mind.
Then on a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets, Craig was on assignment with the G League affiliate Sioux Falls Skyforce. Scheduled to play approximately 90 minutes north of Milwaukee in Oshkosh against the Wisconsin Herd, Craig received a phone call.
"The Nuggets called me and said they might be calling me up, they told me to stay tuned," Craig recalled. "At around 11pm they said they were going to fly me out early in the morning. I had to Uber in the middle of the night, got to my hotel around 3 and my flight was at 5 so I got like an hour sleep, got up, caught my flight to Denver and then went straight to shootaround."
With just enough time to sneak in a snooze before heading back to the arena for the game, Craig was unsure of what to expect, given he had only registered six minutes on an NBA floor prior to that night.
"After shootaround I took a nap and got back to the gym for the game and found out I was starting."
"It was crazy, knowing where I came from, you get a lot of things going through your head and I'm about to start an NBA game. Literally 12 hours ago I was in Oshkosh, Wisconsin getting ready for a G League game and now I'm about to start against Jrue Holiday, DeMarcus Cousins and those guys so it was definitely a memorable experience."
As if the previous 24 hours weren't crazy enough, the scores were locked at 104 with the Pelicans having one final shot to win the game.
"I was having a solid game and Jrue was having a big game, we were having trouble guarding him," Craig recalled.
"The last possession coach said he wanted me on Jrue. I remember he didn't even call for a screen or nothing, I guess he just tried to iso me one-on-one. He hesitated to take a shot and I recovered and got a piece of it; the game went to overtime, and we ended up winning it."
The remarkable events that led to Craig's first moment in the NBA ultimately solidified not only his own confidence in his ability to make it, but the team's, with the Nuggets keeping him on the main roster from that point on.
The now 30-year-old conducts the interview from his suitcase filled car, attempting to finalise a move across country in the middle of a pandemic while also navigating training camp and a rapidly approaching regular season.
"It was tough man, free agency started, and it got to the point where training camp was starting on Dec. 1 and it was Nov. 24 and I still hadn't decided on what team I wanted to go to."
He officially signed with the Bucks on Nov. 26.
"The first four days were rough trying to manage everything. Usually I would go to practice and be able to take a nap after. This time I was going to practice, leaving practice and dealing with all my stuff being shifted and moving everything in and then going back to the gym for second practice, then going back to moving and then trying to sleep before doing it all again."
Oddly enough, the chaotic process almost feels like it should be normal for Craig, who's basketball journey has taken him from Great Falls High School in South Carolina, to the University of South Carolina Upstate to Australia's National Basketball League (NBL).
The unconventional path to the basketball world's biggest stage has helped Craig forge an underdog mentality that he carries with pride, as he continued to check boxes on his way to the NBA.
"It all started growing up, where I went to school. I went to high school in a small town, around 4000 people, 300 people in my high school. It was known for guys literally not making it out. Once they were done with school that's it, there was no going to the NBA to going to college. I started the underdog mindset from there."
Receiving 1A state player of the year honours in high school, Craig went on to pour in over 2,000 points in an impressive college career that culminated in the Atlantic Sun player of the year accolade for the 2012 season.
Failing to land on an NBA roster, Craig took the opportunity to head to Australia, leaving the United States for the first time in what ultimate became a life altering decision.
"I was fresh out of college and I led my league in scoring three years in a row so in my head I thought I did enough to get to the NBA, that's all you need to do," Craig says. "So, coming overseas I was thinking I just had to do the same thing and it was kind of a reality check for me realising what else it took to get to the NBA.
"My whole approach, I had to change my whole demeanour to the game. Not only just offence but defence, not only defence but rebounding and creating extra possessions and that's kind of how I built my way into playing the way I play now.
"Australia was the greatest experience for me, it made me a better player, it made me a tougher player and I'm always grateful for my experience in Australia."
Averaging 5.3 points across 172 regular season games with the Nuggets, Craig's identity as a player in the league has flipped entirely from his school days. No longer a prolific scorer by nature, you will instead find him latched to the opposition's best offensive wing, from LeBron James to Kawhi Leonard.
It's not to say he doesn't believe he can score, because he certainly does, he simply is willing to do whatever it takes to see the floor and help the team win.
"You got to sacrifice something," he admits. "Every good team has players that sacrifice something. I've been a scorer my whole life and now I've transitioned over to defence.
"It was tough at first but once you understand a team and knowing what a team has and what it doesn't have like in Denver they had a lot of guys who could score but not a lot of guys who can play defence so I was willing to fill in one of those roles and hopefully for Milwaukee whatever role they need I'm just willing to do whatever I can to help the team."
Holding the league's No. 1 defence over the last two regular seasons, adding Craig to the mix will only enhance Milwaukee's reputation on that end of the floor. While training camp is only a few days old, Craig has already found a connection with back-to-back MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"It's going to be exciting. He has that dog mentality, so we have that in common. He's gritty, he's competitive and he's a dominant player so playing alongside him is going to be fun. I think it's going to be tough for teams to go up against a team with guys who have the dog mentality like Giannis, myself and Bobby Portis so I can't wait to get started."
In what feels like a full circle moment for Craig, he joins the Bucks for their championship pursuit alongside a familiar face in Holiday. This time they'll be working together to come up with game saving stops.
"I need to ask him about [the block], he helped launch my career and he doesn't even know it!" Craig said with a laugh.