OAKLAND, Calif. — Alfonzo McKinnie was not exactly getting rich playing basketball for Rayos de Hermosillo in Mexico’s top league, but his contract did include one perk: 40 percent off wings at a sports bar not far from the arena. So McKinnie would plant himself in front of a big-screen TV with a plate of wings, and watch the Golden State Warriors compete in the N.B.A. playoffs without him, which was understandable since the Warriors had never heard of him.
It was the spring of 2016, and the glamour of big-time basketball felt very far away.
“I watched every game,” McKinnie said.