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I should've written this a while ago, but better late than never...

Two time ABBL MVP and NT legend retired? Blame Koopasaurus, he shouldn't have sold him. This is where we need OTT to do his obituary.

Good idea. Let's go back in time to when allstar potential players ruled the world!

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In season 3, Donnell White was considering entering the end-of-season draft, but was instead signed late in the season by a then brand new team in division II.1. Back then, there was no such thing as potential so being an 18yo with decent skills made him a good trainee for the team he ended up at, Drunken Masters. At first he didn't get many minutes for the team, but quickly earned a larger role by making the most of the minutes he did get and finishing the season with 12.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.4 steals (!) from 22.4 MPG in 7 games. But it was season 4 where he started to make a name for himself, where he played all 22 games, averaged 27.3 MPG and put up 17 PPG and 9 RPG off 55.5% shooting. This would earn him an all-star appearance and 4th in the MVP voting. Drunken Masters finished 16-6 (#2 in conference) in the regular season and went on to win their conference playoffs, but could not convert on their HCA in the finals and lost 2-0 to Razzle Dazzles.

So what did Donnell White do in Season 5? Take his game to the next level that's what. Cup commitments kept him out of a few league games that season, but in the 17 games he did play he averaged 34 MPG, 20.6 PPG of 51.6% FG, 11.2 RPG, 2.4 SPG and 1.4 BPG. He earned his 2nd all-star start in the division, and should've won the MVP, but came 2nd when Daniel Lemos controversially bribed the voting committee into unanimously declaring him the MVP. Drunken Masters had the last laugh, going 19-3 (#1 in conference) in the regular season and going on to win the whole damn thing, winning the 3 game series 2-0 over Aussie Battlers. They also made the semi-finals of the cup, but were blown out in the SF game by Steve's Crocs (who then lost to The Tasmanian Eagles in the final)

The Drunken Masters made their first appearance in the ABBL in season 6 and it was a huge wake-up call for the team as they slipped to an 8-14 record in the big 8, which in those days meant automatic relegation. Even if the team wasn't doing so good though, Donnell White was fantastic: 24.6 PPG off 53.3% FG, 10.1 RPG, and 2.2 steals, all off 33 minutes per contest. This earned him a starting spot at PF in the All-star game and 8th place in the MVP voting. His team was headed back to division II, but things were looking up for White. As a side note, White was part of the first ever U21 national team for the U21 Asian cup in China. As you could probably predict, we made the final but got our butt kicked by China, with White mysteriously left out of the final game.

Season 7 was quite possibly White's best season in terms of what he achieved. The battlers tournament was the big one; Drunken Masters knocked over 4 ABBL teams in a dream run that was capped off with a 98-85 in the final over Taremeo Hotspur, the only downside for White being that he shot an ugly 7-20 in that final. The other big thing that happened that season was him earning a spot on the senior national team for the season 7 Asian cup campaign. After being left out of the first 7 games, he got the start against Taiwan and immediately made an impact, scoring 28 points off 14-18 shooting. For the tournament, he played 4 games and scored 15.2 PPG off 63% FG, along with 10.7 RPG. But again, he was inexplicably left out of the cup final against China and again the Aussies ended up losing.

Drunken Masters also won division II.2 in Season 7. Donnell White's contribution in the regular season was 21.8 PPG off 55.6% shooting, and 10.8 RPG. These numbers increased to a monstrous 26 and 15 in the playoffs, lifting the 18-4 Masters over everyone and back into the ABBL...

The next two seasons in the ABBL would be the pinnacle of Donnell White's career as an individual player. Something about the heightened level of competition lifted his game to a new standard, as he put up 25 PPG off 48.9 FG%, and 14.1 RPG in season 8. The rest of his game also improved, with a career high 71% FT and 3.1 assists for the season. At the end of the season, MVP voting was split between White, MJP's Raykundalia, and WA's Testoni, but in the end White won it with 140 points, 11 ahead of the other two. What a way to win his first MVP trophy! Drunken Masters finished the season 15-7 (#3 in Great 8) but struck out in the first playoff round against CoolCats, who went on to win the title. Despite being the league MVP, White struggled to get minutes in the national team in season 8 for some reason, and Australia finished 6th in the world cup with a tournament record of 3-6.

Season 9 was even better for White at an individual level; 26 PPG, 50.7% FG, 13.6 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.4 BPG and a 13.3 average rating. For that he was awarded his 2nd ABBL MVP trophy almost unanimously. The Drunken Masters however, weren’t as good as a whole; 12-10 for the season and eliminated in the 1st playoff round by WA IS A DUMP. Meanwhile on the national team level, frustration continued for White in the Asian Cup, as he was locked in a fierce position battle against both veterans and up and coming prodgies. White finally got into the starting line-up against Hong Kong… only to lose the starting spot when the team lost that game. Later he’d lose his spot on the team altogether and could only watch in horror as China yet again destroyed Australia in the Asian Cup Final. In an infamous moment in Australian BB history, he hijacked the post-game press conference and spoke a piece of his mind… or ten.

But struggling to find a spot in the National team wasn’t even his biggest problem anymore. His biggest problem was his manager being missing in action. With no manager to draw-up game plans and manage his minutes, his overall production plummeted, and with that his chances of playing for the NT became zero. The manager never returned and White became a free agent, eventually signing for division II.2 Italian team Blue Sox for an earth shaking $3,825,000. It looked like a great chance for a fresh start for White, until he and the manager had a falling out. See, the manager wanted to tank for draft picks and requested that White come off the bench. White told the manager that he didn’t know any 2-time MVP that come off the bench, he didn’t know any 3.8 million dollar purchases that come off the bench, so why Donnell White? He didn’t like the tanking philosophy either, especially given that he wanted to play well so he could get back into the national squad. He would end up not playing another competitive BB game for 2 months.

With the Blue Sox insisting on not selling him to another team, Donnell White instead went back to Australia on paid leave. It gave him some time to think, and he realised that even if his national career hadn’t gone nearly the way he’d wanted it to, he still had 25 national caps. Most players never even get one. So he resolved to stop worrying about making the national team and just play basketball for fun from that day on. He went back and apologised to his manager for refusing to play, and the manager in turn would apologise to him for tanking the season. With the two of them sorting out their differences, Blue Sox was more than ready for the Season 11 Division III.15 campaign...


Last edited by Jay (OTT) at 4/30/2013 9:01:38 AM

Donnell White was like the Scott Fisher of the NBL. ALL time great aussie.

+1

another awesome read, OTT9. I love the history of the game (including your improvs). Thanks mate. Look forward to next installment.

Fantastic work and as lways a great read. These are a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the history of Aussie BB.

Just finished writing what I should've finished writing two months ago; Part 2 of the Donnell White saga. So yeah, just give it another 2 months and the third and final part (the later seasons with Avalon and Koop) will be written :P.

so where is it???