Reality often can be rewarding. 

When Israel Abanikanda steps onto the MetLife Stadium field with his Jets teammates to play the Buccaneers on Saturday night in the team’s first home preseason game of 2023, reality and reward will meet. 

It’s certain to be a surreal moment for the family and friends of Abanikanda, the Jets’ 2023 fifth-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh, and for the 20-year-old running back, a native of Brooklyn.

Abanikanda’s Nigeria-born parents, Saidi and Mariam, will be in the stands, as will his sister, Debra, and his older brother, Michael, who’s one of the main reasons Israel took up football in the first place, plus other family and friends. 

“They were watching me when I was 4 years old, when I first started playing football,’’ Abanikanda, nicknamed “Izzy,’’ told The Post this week. “And now it’s like, ‘I’m 20 years old in the NFL playing against grown men, doing exactly what I said I was going to do when I was 4.’ This is a dream come true.’’ 

You could hear what Saturday night will mean to Saidi and Mariam Abanikanda, speaking over the phone on Friday. 

“It’s going to be emotional to see my baby on the field in a Jets uniform,” Mariam Abanikanda told The Post. 

“The New York Jets are my team,” Saidi Abanikanda said. “Yes, it will be emotional, and there will be tears.” 

Stories like Abanikanda’s are what make NFL training camps compelling. Stories like his break through the grueling grind of camp, slice through the summer heat and make you smile. 

Four months ago, when the Jets chose him with the 143rd-overall pick, Abanikanda cried at how unreal it all felt. 

“I was laying into my mom’s arms and said, ‘I got you, Mom; I got the family,’ ’’ Abanikanda said. “It was something that, since I was a kid, I’ve been wishing for. I always wanted to stay home, stay close to family.’’ 

Abanikanda, who signed a four-year, $4.18 million rookie contract, said he wants to take care of his family the way they took care of him, helping mold him into the focused young man he is, someone who was able to steer clear of the bad influences that East Flatbush has to offer, if you choose to take that route too well-traveled. 

Abanikanda’s parents were “strict,’’ in his words, and kept him close to home and away from bad influences. Brother Michael, now 28, who played college football at Temple and Buffalo, served as a role model. 

“Everything my brother did, I did,’’ Abanikanda said. “So, when he started playing football, I started playing football. I watched everything he did. My family kept my path straight. I had a lot of friends get arrested and are probably still in jail right now, and I had an older cousin pass away after going to a party late at night and getting shot. 

“Things like that kept me motivated. Brooklyn always has its dark days, and I wanted to shine some light.’’ 

His father said he’s “most proud” of his son for staying the course in pursuit of his dream. 

“Since when he was young, I let him know what it was going to take to get to the NFL level,” Saidi Abanikanda said. 

Abanikanda keeps the positive elements of Brooklyn with him at all times. 

“I would definitely say we’re tough,’’ he said. “Everything is from the heart. There’s nothing stopping us. We’re not going to back down from any fight. We’re not going to back down. We never run away from competition.’’ 

Good thing, because Abanikanda has plenty of competition in the Jets running backs room, with Breece Hall, the second-year stud who’s coming off a knee injury, expected to be the top gun for the team, and newly signed four-time Pro Bowl back Dalvin Cook.

Add to that two incumbents from last season, Michael Carter and Zonovan Knight, and that makes for a lot of running backs and only one football. 

Abanikanda has flashed already in the Jets first two preseason games. In the Hall of Fame Game, his first NFL experience, he scored on a 10-yard run against the Browns.

In the game last week at Carolina, he ran for 56 yards on 12 carries, including a 26-yard burst that was initially ruled a TD, but was overturned because his knee had touched at the 1-yard line. He also caught three passes for 31 yards in that game. 

He’ll get his share of action Saturday night as well, with the starters expected to play only a series or two and neither Hall nor Cook in uniform. 

Abanikanda was prolific at Pittsburgh. He rushed for 1,431 yards and 21 TDs on 239 carries last season and led FBS non-kickers with 128 points.

He comes from an impressive line of running backs out of Pitt including Tony Dorsett, Curtis Martin, LeSean McCoy and James Connor. 

“I want to be the next great running back to leave Pitt to go to the NFL,’’ he said. “As a kid, I really didn’t watch the NFL a lot. I watched college football. Since I got drafted, though, Jets are my favorite team for life.’’