LAS VEGAS — Kevin McCullar Jr. took the court Sunday afternoon in the Las Vegas Summer League with a protective mask, the result of a hit he took in the opening game Friday. And in the final moments of Sunday’s game, he was gone from the bench, having taken another hit to the face.

It seemed fitting that if anyone suffered an injury here, it would be McCullar, who has had to fight his way through adversity to get to this point. Now healthy — if you don’t count the nose — he is able to show what he can do, and he scored 30 points in the Knicks’ 94-81 loss to the Boston Celtics.

McCullar’s career has taken a long detour to get on track — and he is still searching for a real path forward. Chosen near the end of the second round in the 2024 NBA Draft,  56th overall, he was forced to skip last summer’s play as he worked to rehabilitate a bone bruise in his left knee, a result of an injury suffered in his senior season at Kansas that never properly healed, necessitating surgery.

He was signed to a two-way contract last summer even as the Knicks were aware he’d spend much of the season working to get back. He eventually made his NBA debut in  the 71st game of the regular season,  one of only four appearances he made as a rookie.

“It’s not how you want to come in the league, but you know it’s the hand I was dealt,” McCullar said. “This is really my real rookie season. Last year I just got to be able to get my feet wet a little bit, got to get out there and get to play. And I was able to just enjoy the game. I love playing and I missed it for so long. Now it’s pretty much my rookie season.”

After the arduous journey to that first appearance, he scored his first NBA points that night, which prompted Josh Hart, who passed Walt Frazier to  set a franchise record for most triple-doubles in a season in the game,  to hand him the game ball.

“It was a grind,” he said. “They used to all see me when they would come for practice, I would have to do the training room stuff and have to sit on the side and just kind of cheer. So yeah, when I got to score my first basket, I think Josh had a triple-double and broke the record and he still gave me the basketball. So that just shows what type of guys we have in our locker room, and I was just blessed to be a part of it.”

His path already was winding before the NBA. He suffered a fractured tibia during his junior year of high school, graduated early and redshirted his freshman year at Texas Tech as he rehabilitated that injury. He then played three seasons for Texas Tech before transferring to Kansas for two more seasons.

Just what McCullar will become remains a mystery. He was by far the best player on the floor for the Knicks on Sunday and likely would have been a first-round pick in last year’s draft if not for the lingering knee problem. But he also will turn 25 years old during the upcoming season and has had such limited playing time since suffering the injury at Kansas.

“Kevin’s a worker,” Knicks summer league coach Jordan Brink said. “Coming back from the injury last year, he actually had a great season dealing with adversity .  .  . He attacked his rehab and got healthy. And now he’s finally able to play every night. But he’s going to just continue to grow. He missed a lot of reps with his injury. So he’s going to just continue to grow as he gets out there in game experience.”