Toronto Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll is in the midst of the most prolonged playoff run of his career.

He’s started 17 of the 18 games Toronto has played this postseason and has been an instrumental contributor in the franchise’s first-ever appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. Carroll is averaging 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in the playoffs, but his biggest strengths are on the defensive side of the ball, where statistics often fail to measure his true impact.

It’s been a circuitous journey for Carroll, a Birmingham native who attended John Carroll Catholic High School, where he teamed with former Alabama point guard Ronald Steele to win consecutive 6A state championships.

Despite his sparkling prep resume, many did not project Carroll as an impact player on the college level. Academically, he was bright enough to enroll at Vanderbilt, where his freshman stats seemed to validate those early prognostications.

But after 4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Commodores during his first season, the slim, gritty 6-foot-8 small forward posted averages of 10.8 points and 6.4 boards as a sophomore, and people began to take notice.

After transferring to play for his uncle, Birmingham native Mike Anderson, at the University of Missouri, Carroll played his way into the first round of the NBA Draft after a senior year in which he averaged 16.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists while leading Mizzou into the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.

But the road to the bright lights of the NBA was anything but smooth. After transferring to Missouri, Carroll was diagnosed with liver disease and informed that within 20 years, he would require an organ transplant. The summer before playing his first game for the Tigers after sitting out the required transfer year, he was shot in the ankle during a fight at a Missouri nightclub.

DeMarre Carroll of the Toronto Raptors handles the ball against LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. (NBA Photos)

After being drafted with the 27th pick of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, he averaged less than 3 points per game as a rookie, in addition to spending time in the D-League. He played in a total of 12 games for the Grizzlies and the Rockets the next year before being waived. In 2011-2012, it seemed like he was on his way out of the league after appearing in just 24 games for the Rockets and the Utah Jazz.

After appearing in 66 games for Utah the next year, he inked a deal with the Atlanta Hawks, which proved to be his saving grace. Carroll parlayed his successful stint in Atlanta, where he nearly doubled his career output in points and minutes per game, into a four-year, $60 million deal with the Raptors.

This year, he’s been the answer to a squad that lacked a defensive presence and intensity last season. One of the NBA’s top perimeter defenders, he allows All-Star DeMar DeRozan to conserve energy on the defensive end while guarding the opposing team’s best wing scorers.

“I don’t even have to take a shot,” Carroll told the media at the end of March. “I can impact the game defensively for this team and not have to take a shot. … After playing in the Eastern Conference Finals with Atlanta, I understand what it takes and what role I need to play.”

While most have been paying attention to the Raptors’ prolific offense this year, the biggest reason they’re battling the Cleveland Cavaliers for a berth in the NBA Finals is the team’s renewed emphasis on defense.

Their success is a direct reflection of what Carroll, who has proved the naysayers wrong on every step of his journey thus far, has brought in terms of desire, hustle and an understanding that despite not being an offensive superstar, he can have an immeasurable impact on a game when the other team has the ball.

Alejandro Danois is a senior writer and editor with The Shadow League. The former senior editor of Bounce Magazine, he is also a freelance sports and entertainment writer whose work has been published by The New York Times, Sporting News, Baltimore Sun, The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, SLAMonline and Ebony Magazine, among many others.