With star forward Kawhi Leonard out of action due to an ankle injury on Thursday night, the San Antonio Spurs called on guard Jonathon Simmons to take his place in the starting lineup.

Simmons, who went undrafted back in 2012 and is in his second year with the Spurs, didn't disappoint, scoring 18 points and dishing out four assists as San Antonio eliminated the Houston Rockets from the playoffs with a lopsided 114-75 Game 6 victory.

Simmons has clearly found an NBA home now, but his road to professional basketball wasn't an easy one. Back in 2013, Simmons had to attend an open tryout for the Austin Toros (now the Austin Spurs) - San Antonio's D-League squad.

One Redditor also attended that tryout and was impressed by Simmons, though he didn't know it was Simmons at the time. As you can see in the video below, Simmons (who is in the game at the top wearing black jersey No. 18) is dominant on defense - something that likely caught the Spurs' eye:

"That dude was around 6'5 and a guard. No one could stop him," Reddit user GotItCoach said in the post from 2013. It wasn't until Thursday, however, that fellow Redditor samlet discovered that the dominant player in question was indeed Simmons.

After Simmons' performance in Game 6, it's clear the Spurs made a good move when they inked the talented guard to a contract.

That became even more evident on Thursday, as the Spurs were not only without Leonard, but point guard Tony Parker - who is out for the entire postseason - as well.

Fellow guard Patty Mills, who is starting in place of Parker, told NBA.com that he and Simmons are used to doing whatever the team needs and occasionally stepping into a starting role. After all, he said, the Spurs will often rest their star players during the regular season:

“We do this throughout the regular season,” said Mills. “I know it’s not the same, but guys weren’t too out of place with what to expect. Guys knew what to do when they came in the game, knew what their role was. It’s not easy, guys sitting there for however long, but to come in and play their role and execute it is all a mindset thing, making sure you’re ready to go and have that appropriate fear and coming in to make an impact and try not to overdo their role, but we’re used to it because we’ve practiced it throughout the season. We tend to take the long view.”

The Spurs will need Mills and Simmons to continue their strong efforts in the next round, as the red-hot Golden State Warriors await them. However, as you can see in the above video from 2013, hustle and effort have never been problems with Simmons.