After a reporter approached Gabe Vincent in the hallway to introduce himself, the Miami Heat starting point guard did something highly unusual for a player who had just starred in an NBA Finals game.

“I’m Gabe Vincent,” he said, holding out his hand.

Vincent had just finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, in the Heat’s 111-108 win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2, tying the game. series. in one game each.

But even though he shone in front of 19,000 people, and millions more watching on television, he still wasn’t sure if everyone in the arena knew his name.

For Vincent, the last few years have been a whirlwind, going from not knowing if he would make it to the NBA to starring on the biggest stage in the league.

Vincent went undrafted in 2018 out of UC Santa Barbara. He was waived by the Sacramento Kings after signing an Exhibit-10 contract. He then played in the G League for two years, hoping to catch the eye of someone who recognized his talent.

When asked if he was worried about his future at the moment, he shook his head.

“Not at all, not at all,” Vincent told FOX Sports. “I felt like I did the things I needed to do to try to get into the NBA. And if it didn’t work, it didn’t work. Other options would present themselves. But I continued to trust the process.” And I kept working on my game.”

The Heat signed Vincent to a two-way contract in January 2020. Since then, he has gone from playing just nine games during the 2019-2020 season to representing one of the key pieces for a team that is three wins away. an NBA championship.

For 26-year-old Vincent, this is not something he takes for granted.

“It feels great to be in the Finals and to have these opportunities for a lot of people to play seasons, not seasons, careers, in this league and they never had the opportunity to do it,” Vincent told FOX Sports. “I’m happy to be here and trying to help my team get a win.”

This past regular season, Vincent came off the bench before becoming the team’s starting point guard in February. And this postseason, Miami is depending on his contributions, with Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo sidelined with injuries.

With that in mind, Vincent has played his best basketball yet.

He is the Heat’s third leading scorer in the playoffs behind Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, averaging 13.5 points on 40% shooting from distance.

He has scored at least 20 points four times this postseason, highlighting a 29-point performance in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

When asked what Vincent has shown in this postseason, Adebayo didn’t hesitate.

“Undrafted players can start in the Finals, be productive and it doesn’t mean anything that they don’t get drafted,” said Adebayo, who had 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists on Sunday. “He is giving the boys [hope] that they are going their way or that way of, ‘You are not this, you are not that, you are not this.’ And he’s making a space for himself. I feel like a lot of people are going to know who Gabe Vincent is.”

Vincent is in the final year of a two-year, $3.5 million contract and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. After his performance this postseason, he is expected to generate a great deal of interest.

When asked what he thought about what’s next, he chuckled.

“The lovely question of free agency,” Vincent told FOX Sports. “The Heat have been great. They’ve put a lot into me. They’ve invested in me in a number of ways, through time and effort and helping me grow my game. I really appreciate the initial opportunity they gave me.” they gave me, and for helping me grow. I love Miami. So we’ll see what happens.”

Adebayo said he first knew Vincent would become the player he has become when he scored 21 points in 18 minutes for the Nigerian Olympic team in their shock victory over Team USA in an exhibition game. in 2021, passing both Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard in fewer minutes.

“He came out with that kind of energy, that kind of voracity and that kind of anger,” Adebayo said. “I felt that from there, he is one of us.”

As for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, he made his feelings about Vincent clear after Game 2.

“We love Nnamdi,” said Spoelstra, referring to the name Vincent wore on the back of his jersey when he represented the Nigerian Olympic Team in tribute to his Nigerian father and his culture. “We really do.”

Spoelstra went on to call Vincent “an incredible winning player”, praising him for changing his game to suit the team’s needs.

“It was a gunman, two guards,” Spoelstra said. “We wanted to make him a combo guard, someone who could organize us, be annoying defensively, tough, learn to facilitate and run a team. I think that’s the hardest thing to do in this league, turn two into one.”

Vincent accepted that challenge the same way he accepted all the ones that came before it.

Now, everything is paying off.

And though his profile has skyrocketed, Vincent remains as humble as ever.

When asked what winning a championship would mean to him, the guy who introduced himself refused to talk about himself.

“It would mean a lot, especially after the season we’ve had for this group,” he told FOX Sports. “I want nothing more for this group and for our stars who have been struggling.”

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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