Jack White Reflects on "Surreal Moment"

Jack White is living the dream. 

The 25-year-old signed a two-way contract in July 2022 with the Denver Nuggets, but it wasn’t until he stepped foot on an NBA court that the reality of what he'd achieved started to sink in. 

Sitting in a hotel room in Phoenix, Arizona ahead of the Nuggets' next game, the former Melbourne United star reflected on an incredible, whirlwind nine months. 

“It’s a weird dynamic to sit down for two hours, stay locked into a game, stay ready to come into the game at any point,” White said on The Huddle.

“Go out there and it’s 0-100, you’re in an NBA game.”

White said the first time he was called off the bench to play in his debut NBA game was “a surreal moment”.

“For me making that debut it’s even more of a surreal moment. Being out there and staying present was what I was trying to think of at the time,” he said.

“To truly appreciate that this is something that I’ve been working towards my whole life, to soak it in and stay present. Not worry about any external factors but to just enjoy it first and foremost which helped a lot.

“That was before my G-League experience, with the two-way; you know what you signed up for. You know you’re going to get bounced around, I had a good taste of that early on with going back and forth.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A peek behind the curtain ?<br><br>Former Melbourne United forward and current Denver Nugget Jack White gives an insight into what life is like in the NBA ?<br><br>Watch now: <a href="https://t.co/4Yokx1SS2B">https://t.co/4Yokx1SS2B</a> <a href="https://t.co/bfH4s5hop5">pic.twitter.com/bfH4s5hop5</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1643873027443281920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The 25-year-old began his career in the NBL with the Cairns Taipans in 2016, before playing college basketball with Duke from 2016-2020, and then joining United.

White said the experience of playing in both the G-League (Grand Rapids) and in the NBA has helped his development over the past six-to-nine months, as he has been exposed to training alongside the best.

“It’s been really positive, the biggest thing for me has been the shooting and showing that at a high level and translating it to games,” White said.

“Even since I was in college I always felt like I was a really good shooter but the application and the mental side of it, shooting without a conscience is something you hear a lot.

“I’ve put in the work throughout the preseason when I was here for Summer League and on both ends.

“From the front office that’s something they really wanted me to show in the G-League is to get a lot of shots up and be more aggressive in that regard. I felt like I did a better job of that, being dynamic and assertive with my shooting and my offensive aggressiveness in general.

“I was happy with my own individual efforts and play, and it was just having fun playing.

“I’ve played like almost 30 games with the G-League and I’ve been with the Nuggets for a good portion of the season as well, I’ve really been able to experience and see a lot in such a short period of time.”