"If nothing else, Orlando Magic point guard Rafer Alston's journey to this point in his NBA career is a study of evolution.

A New York-area street basketball legend, "Skip to my Lou" first dropped sneakers on the national basketball landscape via his starring role in the first And1 mixtape tour in the late 1990s.

How Alston has transformed those playful playground skills into becoming a solid NBA point guard during his decade in the league likely dictates how far the Magic go this season. The Magic obtained him from the Houston Rockets just before the trade deadline to plug the hole created by Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder surgery.

Alston's traveled from Queens to college out west and through four NBA cities and NBDL outposts to get here. He'll turn 33 this summer, but said that with each game in a Magic jersey — seven games now — that he's feeling like his latest stop is the one he's waited for.

"The plan was to always make it to this point," Alston said with a nod. "A person takes different paths. This was mine. It started on the playgrounds and with me being able to hold my own as a young kid against grown ups.

" ... I had to really prove and show that I belonged in the Division I circuit, that I belonged in the NBA and could play with the best of them."

The Magic are 5-2 since Alston's arrival. He's still adjusting, but the early returns are positive.

"I think so," General Manager Otis Smith said when asked if Alston could carry his team to the NBA Finals, "because what he does is battle every night. He doesn't allow guys to take a step back. He's 32 years old and his goal is to win a title, too. And we feel like we just gave him a chance to do that."

Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said the streetball background is one Alston has had to prove himself for so long.

"People immediately stereotype you a little," Van Gundy said.

Now a "pass first" point guard, Alston said he hasn't completely lost the flash that earned him his nickname when he used to skip down New York's legendary Rucker Park's court on fast breaks. In fact, several players still call him "Skip."

Alston says he's just embracing the styles of the classic New York point guards he grew up watching such as Mark Jackson, Pearl Washington, Rod Strickland and Kenny Anderson.

"Growing up in New York there were guards all over the place," Alston said. "A center was a guard ... I had great guards to watch everywhere and pick a piece from each one of them. ... Now this is my time."

Alston is also averaging 11.4 points and six assists in a Magic jersey. Van Gundy said his game has matured.

"If you watch him he's a solid basketball player — he's not out there trying to throw full court, behind-the-back passes," Van Gundy said. " ... Guys need time to develop and he's taken advantage of that opportunity ... He took it and ran with it."

Eddie Lau is Alston's best friend and business manager. Lau first met the "basketball addict" Alston when the pair was 10 years old and playing on the same Riverside (N.Y.) church basketball team.

Lau was from the Lower East Side but is quick to remind that "New York is big, but [the] basketball [community] is kind of small."

Though Alston was fast achieving legendary status on the court, without a strong father presence at home when he arrived at Benjamin Cardozo High School he turned into a consistent truant.

He played in just 10 games in his final two years at Cardozo because he was ineligible.

As a result he had to take his game out west after high school to get his grades up in junior college."