Dylan Cardwell played in a school-record 166 games at Auburn. But his career averages of 4.2 points and 3.9 rebounds across his five seasons on the Plains didn’t stamp him as much of an NBA prospect. Even for the Tigers’ Final Four team in the 2024-25 campaign, Cardwell averaged only 5.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
But on Wednesday night, Cardwell led the Sacramento Kings in rebounds for the fourth straight game and, for the second night in a row, set a career high. After pulling down 12 rebounds in a 130-117 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, Cardwell grabbed 13 rebounds in a 122-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday.
Across the four games, Cardwell had 44 rebounds along with 26 points, seven assists, seven blocked shots and three steals.
“Outside of the will of God, I would not be in the NBA,” Cardwell said. “Like I said, you look on a stat sheet, I didn’t wow people in college. I averaged five points per game. I rebounded the ball five times per game. I averaged, like, 1.6 blocks per game. No one thought I was an NBA player. And I’m not supposed to be here but God. And so every time I go on that court, it’s just an opportunity to showcase my God-given abilities and have fun with it and continue to be a joy because at the end of the day, I’m living my childhood dream.
“This is something I prayed about since I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember watching LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2012 and 2011 NBA Finals, and just telling my mom, ‘I want to be there. I want to be -- not like LeBron -- but I want to be in the NBA.’ And just to pray about that every single day and to get that is just a dream come true. And I don’t think I’ll ever take this game for granted because, at the end of the day, like I said, I’m not supposed to be here.
“And, yeah, I put this jersey on every single day, and I have a blast doing it because this is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. And so you’ll see that childlike joy every time I step on that court, because like I said, this is a dream come true for me. And at any moment, it can be taken away. But I just love, love, love playing basketball. I love accomplishing and living the dream and having fun.”
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Cardwell joined the Kings on a two-way contract, which allows him to move between Sacramento and its NBA Gatorade League affiliate, the Stockton Kings. He’s played 16 games with Stockton. But after playing in three of Sacramento’s first 26 games, Cardwell has played in 15 of the past 19, including the last nine.
With Cardwell on the court, the Kings have a 7-11 record. Without him, Sacramento’s record is 5-22.
Cardwell said he took the advice of five-time NBA All-Star and 19-year veteran Al Horford to get a toehold in the league.
“I asked about Al Horford when I was in the Boston Celtics pre-draft (workouts),” Cardwell said, “and they mentioned how much of a pro he was in his routine and how he just continued to rep out the things that he wanted to get better at each and every day, and that’s how he went from a post player, shooting only hook shots with the Hawks, to, you see him -- not now -- but when he was at the Celtics, expanding his game to the 3-point line. And so I asked him how he did that, and like I said, he just bought into his routine. He was very specific about going to bed at the right time and getting to the gym at the right time.
“Being consistent and all that, it’s a long season, and it’s easy to get off task, it’s easy to get off of your routine. And so I try to make sure my routine is dead straight. My wife holds me accountable every time. Every time after a game, she takes my phone and makes sure I’m in bed at a good time. And so it was just being a professional, it was my New Year’s resolution -- just being a professional on and off the court -- and how I take care of my body and how I approach the game.”
As the NBA’s leading rebounder this season, Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has averaged collecting a rebound every two minutes, 47 seconds. Cardwell’s average is one rebound every two minutes, 40 seconds on the court, and over the past nine games, it’s one rebound every two minutes, eight seconds.
Cardwell said he’s found rebounding in the NBA easier than in the SEC.
“My transition to the NBA, a lot of people questioned my rebounding,” Cardwell said. “You’re 6-10, you’re 6-11, and you’re a great offensive rebounder. But defensively, what’s the problem? And I think a lot of that was I was used to boxing out because the SEC, we got a lot of people like myself in there. And so I’m trying to keep them off the glass.
“But here, there’s only a handful of guys like Mitchell Robinson, Steven Adams, or guys you really, really have to make sure you’re boxing out. But other than that, you can kind of hit and go get. And so me and my play development coach, we just nailed, really: How can we become a better rebounder? Because that’s how I’m going stay in this league is being a rebounder and being an energy guy. And so that’s something I look forward to each and every day is rebounding the ball. It’s a gift.”
Cardwell has fast become a fan favorite at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and he said he had found the NBA different off the court from what he expected.
“Coming into this process, you hear a lot about how the NBA is just business,” Cardwell said. “It’s cutthroat, your teammates are more individualized and they’ll worry about themselves. But we might not happen to be having a great season, but this is the best locker room I’ve really been a part of outside of my last year at Auburn.
“Everybody from Russell Westbrook to Drew Eubanks wants to see you succeed. Drew got -- not benched -- but Drew stopped playing as much, and he’s the happiest guy on the bench. He still takes time out of his day to come tell me, ‘Hey, you could’ve done this better. You could’ve done that better.’ And so everybody is a part of this team, whether we’re successful or not. And no one is spiteful. No one is unprofessional. And I really appreciate being on this team, being in this locker room.”
The Kings return to the court against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:30 p.m. CST Friday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. Sacramento will try to break a three-game losing streak that was preceded by a four-game winning streak. The Kings didn’t win back-to-back games in their first 38 outings of the season.
The game will be the 19th of Cardwell’s NBA career.
“For sure, it definitely took a lot of prayer to get to where I’m at,” Cardwell said.