It has been a whirlwind two years for Jack White. From lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy as part of Denver’s first-ever championship winning roster to embracing the “grind” of playing in the G-League, bouncing around from team to team before getting a call-up to the NBA late last season with Memphis. It would have been easy for White to lose himself in the process. To question whether he was still on the right path or if he would have any more moments like the one he had at the end of his season with the Nuggets, where coach Michael Malone put the ‘Defensive Player of the Game’ chain around his neck after a standout game against the Sacramento Kings. But amid all that change, when he was on the “fringe” of the NBA and the bright lights felt both so close and so far away at the same time, White found a way to appreciate every opportunity he was given – no matter how big or small. To him, as much as playing in the NBA was and still remains his “dream”, stints with the Nuggets, Thunder, Lakers and Grizzlies over the past two years have taught him how to thrive in different environments – and now he is ready to take those lessons back to Melbourne United.

United teammate Chris Goulding told foxsports.com.au that White is “playing with more confidence” than when he was last at the team in 2022 while Matthew Dellavedova added he “looks stronger and more athletic”. That word “confidence” also came up again too. “And it’s on us to instil that confidence in him because he’s a main guy for us,” said Goulding. “We need him to be really good every night and the luxury in that for him is he affects the game in so many different ways. It’s not just about shooting, which he’s gotten better at his shooting and he’s more confident with his three ball. It’s everything he does defensively with his rebounding and blocking shots. He’s able to affect the game for us nightly and that’s important for us.”

It was important for the Nuggets too, the reason White got playing time with the eventual NBA champions near the end of the regular season as a reward for consistent form in the G-League. White was particularly impressive in a 109-95 win against Sacramento to close out the season, recording eight rebounds and receiving plenty of praise from Malone, who highlighted the Australian’s hustle and tenacity on defence in one of his press conferences. “That’s what you work for all year – those opportunities to get out on the biggest stage and perform,” White said. “I was thankful I got the opportunity at the end (of the season) to showcase what I could do at that level. Obviously the defensive end of the floor is something I take a lot of pride in and, especially talking about how I can be effective in different roles, I’m not going into the NBA expecting I’m going to put up 20 points a game. It’s going to be my rebounding, it’s going to be my defence and it’s going to be being a good teammate and playing that role to the best of my ability. To get recognised for that meant a lot. That’s something that’s valued at a high level at that organisation. A lot of guys talk about the Nuggets with Joker, Murray and MPJ and these guys that can do a lot on the offensive end, but a big part of our success that season was actually our ability to defend and put different line-ups that could stop talented teams. That’s been my dream since I was a kid to go out there on the biggest stage and show that I belong and to get a taste of that and get recognition from a coach that I admire and respect a significant amount means a lot. It’s obviously something I’m never going to forget but it just makes me hungrier for even more at that level.”

And that is something that White continually stressed when speaking to him ahead of United’s season-opener against Tasmania, that as much as he looks back fondly on his time in and around the NBA, he is still looking forward more than anything else with the confidence he can contribute at the highest level if given the opportunity. So while White is back in the NBL for now, the hope is that an impressive season with United could catapult him back onto the NBA radar and if that does happen, he knows wherever he ends up he can draw on the experience of the last two years, which he said has given him a big “advantage”. “That level was always something that I had aspired to get to and always believed I could get to and it’s still a level I firmly believed I can get back to,” White said. “So, to be in that environment around those kinds of players and make those relationships and sort of get on the court with those guys and realise I can compete at that level and contribute to winning at that level, it gives me confidence coming back to the NBL. More than anything, being in different environments you need to work out how you can best contribute in that particular group and being on different teams and being in different cultures and gelling with different groups has given me a skill in that department to be able to adjust and be the best version of myself. I think that’s been the biggest advantage in being in those sort of environments. It helped me realise my dreams but also helped me realise that I’m able to adjust in different environments and perform at a high level wherever I am.”

An evidently frustrated Mike Wells lambasted his Adelaide 36ers players during a training session ahead of his side's clash with the Sydney Kings. The former NBA assistant coach was appointed last month when club favourite Scott Ninnis was sacked. The 36ers take on the Kings on Sunday. New Adelaide 36ers coach Mike Wells has made no apologies for a heated training session, which included an expletive-laden spray, ahead of his side's NBL opening round clash with the Sydney Kings. The former NBA assistant coach was unhappy with his players' preparation, just three days out from taking on the league's title favourite. In an emotionally charged spray, the evidently dissatisfied coach lambasted his players, and then demanded that cameras filming the session be turned off. “Stop, we are fing around,” he yelled mid-court. “It’s bullshit. Goddamn it, what the f? Turn the f***ing cameras off too, goddamn it.” Asked afterwards if there were tensions heading into the opening round, a more tranquil Wells responded “absolutely not”, saying it was important to create an “emotional” atmosphere and “then be able to reel it back in”. “What you're trying to do is you're trying to get iron to sharpen iron, you're trying to compete, you're trying to get guys to compete at the highest level,” he said. “You're just trying to mould the group and I have an idea of the way I think that we can play and how we can function.” Wells was appointed last month when club favourite Scott Ninnis was sacked, and is trying to get his squad to gel and play unselfish basketball. Wells says he is trying to “mould the group”. (ABC News) He said he wanted to be “pushing the lines and pushing the boundaries” with the players. “We're all at different levels and different, I guess, stages of our professional career. We're all here right now, we've all got Sixers on our chest,” he said. “What we want to do is come together as a group, we want to be hardened by competition.” Adelaide has not won the NBL since 2002 and savagely cut its roster at the end of last season. Its new-look squad includes late replacement import Montrezl Harrell, and faces an early challenge on Sunday, when the 36ers take on title favourite the Sydney Kings. “They have a standard and everybody knows the brand,” Wells said. “It's always good for us early in the season to kind of take a shot at somebody that's really good.”