Chasing Dreams: Why Jack White is backing himself

Jack White is working towards getting back to the NBA, locking in a spot with the Australian Boomers in Paris to chase a medal. And he's enjoying the ride.

It was all going to plan for Jack White last year.

Coming off his first year in the NBA as a two-way player and winning a championship ring along the way, White fulfilled two other dreams in 2023. He earned himself a roster spot on the Australian Boomers for the FIBA World Cup – his first major tournament, and he signed a two-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, moving him one step closer to becoming a full-time NBA player.

It wasn’t easy to achieve either goal. The Boomers roster for the World Cup was tightly contested and at one point, heading into the final warmup games in Melbourne, White looked to be on the outside of a numbers crunch that saw thirteen deserving players fighting for twelve spots. But an injury to his friend and former United teammate, Jock Landale, saw White on that plane to Okinawa, where he made solid contributions in limited minutes.

Despite the Boomers not achieving their goal of another medal, White was better for the experience. He got to build some chemistry on and off the floor with new Thunder teammate Josh Giddey before heading to OKC, feeling good about how he could help that team.

While he got there a little late following the World Cup and there was again to be a numbers crunch in terms of who could make that final roster, White was signed by OKC deliberately, with a role in mind for Mark Daigneault. He had every expectation of being there when the final cuts were made at the end of preseason. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. White was waived on the eve of this season as the Thunder had to make their final roster spots and cap sums fit.

It wasn’t what White had envisaged happening and now had to think about his next move with his agent.