Following the Denver Nuggets' 108-95 victory at the Miami Heat on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, Jack White, surprisingly enough, is on the verge of becoming only the seventh Duke basketball product in history to be a player on an NBA championship team. He'd be the first to do so since Quinn Cook in 2020.
Here are the six Blue Devils, with eight rings between them, who are on that list to date:
- Jeff Mullins, with the Golden State Warriors in 1975
- Danny Ferry, with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003
- Shane Batter, with the Heat in 2012 and 2013
- Kyrie Irving, with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016
- Dahntay Jones, with the Cavaliers in 2016
- Quinn Cook, with the Warriors in 2018 and Los Angeles Lakers in 2020
Granted, Jack White has not seen a minute of action throughout the Nuggets' playoff run. In the regular season, although he earned a reputation as a hard worker in practice and a positive influence in the locker room, he played only 17 games, averaging only 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds in 3.9 minutes per appearance.
But the 25-year-old Australian is only an NBA rookie following a three-year stint with Melbourne United in his home country's National Basketball League.
And as a two-way affiliate player who has been on the bench this postseason, albeit not on the playoff roster, Jack White will go down in the books as an official team member. So he'll get a championship ring, assuming the Nuggets notch another win, as the series moves to Denver for Game 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET Monday.
That's more than most former undrafted players can say.
Across his four-year Duke basketball career, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound power forward embraced the program's ways, added to his skill set, and strengthened his frame, yet never averaged more than five points per game. Still, he became a key reserve as a junior and senior for Blue Devil teams (2018-19, 2019-20) with only six losses apiece.
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