A White of passage

Jack White, NBL champion, NBA champion. The former Melbourne United star may have signed a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder next season, but he will forever be a part of Denver Nuggets folklore.

White was, incidentally, limited to the role of active off-court contributor in both title wins though. He was sidelined with a serious Achilles injury during the back end of Melbourne’s triumph in 2021, and his two-way contract with the Nuggets meant he was restricted to regular season games last season.

He did, however, get to witness the meaning behind each triumph from the inner sanctum of each organisation, and discussed the similarities between the two triumphs on Melbourne United’s The Extra Pass Podcast.

“The NBL one was different. I was in the process of rehabbing my Achilles, so I was pretty immobile during the celebrations. I couldn’t really celebrate in the best way,” White said. “Just being around that group and knowing what a lot of guys had sacrificed – family, being away from Melbourne, the travel, everything with Covid – there was a lot people sacrificed to be able to make that a reality.

“Just seeing what it meant to the fellas was special for me, and that’s the thing that’s most similar about that experience.

“I have a vivid memory of one minute left in the final game [for Denver] and Jeff (Green), Ish (Smith) and DJ (DeAndre Jordan) are just sitting on the bench crying. These guys are some of the best vets you could ever come across, huge parts of why our locker room was so good and a huge part of our camaraderie.

“Just seeing how much it meant to them and how they went about things the right way for so long, for them to be rewarded with this thing, this was their ultimate goal, was special for someone like me who was fortunate enough to be in that situation and have that experience in my first year.”

After returning home at the culmination of the Nuggets’ successful NBA campaign, White is now in Cairns with the extended Boomers squad, ahead of the upcoming FIBA World Cup.

White is likely competing with fellow former NBL and current NBA forward Xavier Cooks for a spot on the national side’s roster ahead of the tournament, as well as the likes of the NBL’s Sam Froling and Keanu Pinder.

Prior to linking up with the Boomers, White participated in a handful of open runs with Melbourne United, where he, Jock Landale, Dyson Daniels and Josh Giddey scrimmaged with a Melbourne roster that includes fellow Boomers Matthew Dellavedova and Chris Goulding, and Tall Blacks Flynn Cameron and Shea Ili.

“It’s been exactly what I needed leading into camp and coming off the season,” White said of his time in Melbourne.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/BasketballAus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BasketballAus</a> Boomers officially got things underway today at their pre-<a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAWC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FIBAWC</a> camp in Cairns ?<br><br>Following this camp, the Boomers will face Brazil, Venezuela and South Sudan in Melbourne ? <a href="https://t.co/oPDaxt3udF">pic.twitter.com/oPDaxt3udF</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1686301338387546112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Coming back here and having that to fall back on and have a routine working out, and United starting their pre-season and being surrounded by guys I’m going into camp with has been really big.

“I’ve been enjoying it, these are guys I haven’t – apart from Jock – had the pleasure of spending a lot of time on court with and getting acclimated, learning their games.

“Coming back and seeing all the Untied boys has been awesome. I love this club, I love everyone that’s involved and it’s so cool I can just come back and seamlessly come back in.”