How Jack White and Melbourne United could take each other to new heights
How Jack White and Melbourne United could take each other to new heights
Jack White didn't stick in his first NBA stint, but a return to Melbourne United could prove fruitful for both player and team.
Credit: May Bailey Photography
For most of his basketball life, Jack White has been a Melbourne United player.
That was the case before he’d ever stepped foot on the court for the club, as he would head home and work out with the club in his offseason, while playing for Duke in the NCAA. It was true during his two years with United, where he experienced the lows of a major injury and the highs of a title, and it remained true during an NBA stint that had its own share of ups and downs, from his first two-way deal and a championship ring to being the casualty of roster cuts, the G League grind, and the glimmer of hope in a ten-day contract that went no further.
After spending the majority of last season in the G League, earning brief NBA opportunities but failing to find a permanent place, Jack White is a Melbourne United player once more, in both spirit and contract. It’s a move that’s been on the cards for a while now – even as he earned a call-up to the Memphis Grizzlies in April, he had one eye on the club that helped to vault him into NBA consideration.
“I’m definitely interested in going back to Melbourne, that definitely feels like my home away from home, my home in the NBL,” White told Code Sports at the time. “They’ve supported me so much through injuries, it’s close to home for me geographically, I love the city, so there’s plenty of positives there.”
It’s a logical move, given the success that followed both club and player through his last stint in Melbourne. He was part of the club’s 2021 title-winning team, albeit as an injured bystander during the finals series, and parlayed a strong campaign the following season into a two-way deal with the Denver Nuggets. That move to the NBA followed on from Jock Landale before him, and the likes of Luke Travers, Jo-Lual Acuil and Ariel Hukporti have earned the attention of NBA teams since.
Of course, there’s a chance that White could once again make the move to the US, something that Vickerman is acutely aware of. With an Olympic tournament still to come before the new NBL season, and with White squarely in the frame for a berth in the Boomers squad, the NBA out in his contract could certainly come into play. “If he makes the Boomers and goes to the Olympics, and people see him there… there are going to be those opportunities to expose himself to more NBA clubs,” Vickerman told SEN last week.
Anything can happen on the court, as was proven when United fell to Tasmania in last season’s grand final after leading the season from start to almost-finish. As of right now, White is a Melbourne United player, and on the surface, the potential is there for Melbourne to lift White up to new heights, and for White to help United to reach the pinnacle once again.
For a moment there, it seemed like White might have been on track to never return to the NBL. His rookie year in the NBA went about as well as anyone could have hoped for – while his contract status as a two-way player restricted him to just 17 games for the Denver Nuggets, he starred for their G League affiliate in Grand Rapids and travelled with the Nuggets through the playoffs as they won the franchise’s first title. That all paid off when he signed a multi-year deal with Oklahoma City, seemingly securing his place in the league.
Of course, nothing is ever that straightforward in the world of basketball, and that’s not how things panned out. A maiden World Cup berth with the Boomers was another goal ticked off, but it meant White was later joining the Thunder than most of his new teammates; when a roster crunch hit and they needed to shed contracts on the eve of the season, he became the most logical choice to be cut. “It made the most financial sense to cut me, and I knew objectively it made sense that they made that decision based on the cards that they were dealt,” White conceded to The Pick and Roll in February.
He could have easily returned home then, but instead opted to stay in the US for any opportunities that might arise during the season. That proved to be a wise decision – even after an injury-interrupted season in the G League, he earned a ten-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies and played significant minutes across four games. Despite that, a return to Melbourne next season may be a better chance for White to continue to grow while properly showcasing himself.
He proved himself as an out-and-out star of the G League with Grand Rapids, averaging 20.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while shuffling between the Gold and the Nuggets, and that made it no surprise when he was the first overall pick in the G League Draft last season, landing with the South Bay Lakers. The G League is a unique beast, though, and White fell victim to the hierarchy that’s there. With the Gold, he was a two-way player, an asset to the team’s NBA affiliate and a priority for them to develop and keep sharp; he was still a key player in South Bay, starting 17 of 24 games, but he was also just another G League player on a roster with its own NBA-led priorities. His shot attempts nearly halved from the year prior, dipping from 14.7 per game to 7.5, and his minutes also dropped significantly.
That won’t be a problem in Melbourne, where he’ll be not only one of United’s biggest stars, but one of the highest-profile players in the league as a whole. Better yet, he returns as an even better and more well-rounded player than in his last NBL stint, with two years spent in and around basketball’s best and brightest helping to refine and expand his game.
In the NCAA with Duke and his first professional stint in Melbourne, White was the ultimate glue guy, a complementary piece more than the driving force behind a team. Across his final two college seasons, he averaged 18.2 minutes as a team captain but took just 3.2 shots per game; he was a little more expansive with United, but playing alongside the likes of Chris Goulding, Jock Landale, Scotty Hopson and Jo-Lul Acuil, he was never asked to shoulder a heavy offensive load. It helped that he didn’t need to do so to have a big impact on the court, with his defensive versatility and leadership the calling cards that helped to make Melbourne one of the league’s best teams and grab the attention of NBA teams.
Those are still his biggest strengths, and you can guarantee they’ll be utilised to their fullest under coach Dean Vickerman, but there’s no reason to think that the leap he took offensively while overseas won’t continue. The most obvious improvement came from behind the arc – after shooting a touch over 30% from three in the NBL, he knocked down 40.9% of his triples with Grand Rapids while taking 4.7 per game, and again shot around 35% last season. He’s always been strong around the basket, able to put the ball on the floor and finish at the rim, and that added threat from the perimeter opened up even more avenues for him to attack.
“Spending time with him last year at the World Cup, I think he's only gotten better and I can imagine that growth has continued across his time in the G League and NBA last year,” Melbourne captain Chris Goulding told ESPN last week. “Looking at the way he's progressed with his shooting in his time away from the club, I think he's going to be even more ready to shoot the ball with confidence when we need it.”
That extra scoring punch will be a huge boost for a United team that is set to lose some high-end talent, with last season’s second-leading scorer Jo-Lual Acuil opting out of his contract to explore options overseas and Next Star Ariel Hukporti heading to the NBA Draft. There’s also a growing expectation that they could be without their do-it-all forward Luke Travers, with ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reporting that the 22-year-old could be whisked away to the NBA by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted him back in 2022.
That would make White’s addition a like-for-like swap at the four spot, although he may be an even better fit than Travers with Melbourne’s current group and in helping to offset the loss of the team’s two centres. They’ve signed Rob Loe to shore up that spot, and they’ll be more active in the import market this offseason, but White can be used as a handy small-ball five in a pinch and will bring rebounding and rim protection alongside any additions they may make. That’s the beauty of White as a defender – he can play up a spot and bang around the basket just as easily and effectively as he can switch onto the perimeter, as evidenced by his averaging both one steal and one block per game in the G League last season.
“He’s going to be an easy addition to our group because of his versatility… in his time away, he’s had to adjust quickly to changing lineups, so he’s developed a really great ability to effectively play a role no matter what the scenario is,” Vickerman said when announcing White’s signing.
At the offensive end of the floor, his shooting and ever-growing all-around game could be a shot in the arm for a team that finished the season with the joint-best offensive rating in the league, but that also stagnated a little at times when Chris Goulding received extra attention or Matthew Dellavedova’s shot wasn’t falling. Those two will remain next season and be focal points once again, but White should help to ease some of the pressure in crunch time, spacing the floor while punishing defences that hedge too hard towards the guards.
Above all else, White has always been vaunted for his character, effort and leadership. He’s a vocal team defender, a tone-setter on and off the court, and a much-loved figure in every team he’s been on. That's why he was named a captain at Duke despite modest production in his first two years there, and why he has always been recognised as a crucial part of Melbourne’s 2021 championship team, even as he missed the back half of the season. Those are traits that will make his fit back with United seamless, and he already knows that the club is willing to reciprocate that energy in spades after standing by him and extending his contract when he ruptured his Achilles in that title-winning campaign.
“Melbourne’s not a normal club, they emphasise the right things, the culture, the family, the feeling around, it’s something that I’m a big fan of and I’ve benefited from,” White told Code Sports in April.
There’s a chance that White may not be long for Melbourne and the NBL as he continues to chase his NBA dream. The NBL and United’s reputation as a pathway to the NBL is only growing, and they’ll hope to be a title contender once again next season with White playing a large role. His future isn’t clear, but for as long as he is back in a United uniform, it looks set to be a winning partnership once again.