Veteran & rookie: Aussie pair's pursuit of a title

A new champion is going to be crowned in the NBA in just a matter of weeks, but it could also be time for another Aussie to earn a piece of jewellery almost every basketballer dreams of winning.

Seven Australians have won the ultimate prize - an NBA championship ring — with Minnesota Timberwolves veteran Joe Ingles and Indiana Pacers rookie Johnny Furphy a chance to join that illustrious list as both prepare for their respective conference finals match-ups against the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks.

While Ingles, Furphy and their respective teams are on a mission for the same prize — the pair have walked completely different paths on their journey to the big stage.

After moulding his game at the Australian Institute of Sport, Ingles burst onto the scene with the South Dragons in the NBL, having an immediate impact on the league he grew up watching before leading the now-defunct club to the 2009 championship under Brian Goorjian.

His rise caught the eyes of powerhouse European clubs, spending time with Spanish Clubs CB Granada and Barcelona, where he would win two Spanish league championships. But it was when the South Australian product moved to Maccabi Tel Aviv where he really put himself on the map.

Ingles and Maccabi Tel Aviv would dominate the European basketball scene in 2014 — winning the Israeli league and cup titles and also capturing the EuroLeague championship under future NBA coach David Blatt.

Reaching the NBA was then the next step for Ingles but it didn't come easy. He was cut by the Los Angeles Clippers after spending the preseason with the team, which featured the likes of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, before being picked up by the Utah Jazz on the eve of the 2014-15 season.

It would be a move that would change Ingles' career and life as he became a pillar of a Jazz team and a fan favourite in Salt Lake City as Utah went on to become a regular season powerhouse and make several playoff runs. Ingles would also etch himself in Jazz history, becoming the leader in all-time three-point makes for the franchise with 1071 triples, eclipsing NBA legend John Stockton's previous best of 845.

Following eight seasons with Utah, Ingles would have stints in Milwaukee and Orlando before signing with the Timberwolves, where he has become an integral part of Minnesota's run to a second consecutive conference finals. While he might not hit the court, the locker room presence and leadership of a veteran like Ingles has proved invaluable for Chris Finch's team, where he has also reunited with former Jazz teammates Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert.

“He’s been everything for us in terms of maturity, he’s helped all the young guys, he’s helped all the vets," Finch told reporters on May 18.

"Everyone always talks about you have to have vets on your team to help everybody, but the dirty little secret is, a lot of vets you may not want on your team. You know, they’re trying to hang on to their career their salty their selfish… not all vets are created the same.

"In Joe, we have an all-star in that capacity, he’s selfless, direct, has the right approach and like I said he helped everybody from Rob Dillingham to Rudy.”

As the Timberwolves prepare to face the Western Conference's top seed in Oklahoma City, an NBA title would be the perfect icing on the career cake for Ingles, who already is a significant part of Australian basketball history following the bronze medal performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In the Eastern Conference, it's Furphy and the surprise packet of the NBA playoffs in the Indiana Pacers, who will reignite an old rivalry with New York with a spot in the NBA Finals on the line.

Different to Ingles, the 20-year-old's path to the NBA's penultimate round has been shorter but not one that hasn't been earned.

After growing up in Melbourne and attending Maribyrnong College, Furphy would show he was a special talent early on — playing Big V Division 1 at the age of just 16 for the Hawthorn Magic. In one of the few similarities with Ingles, Furphy would further develop his skills at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (former the AIS) before earning a scholarship with iconic US college, the Kansas Jayhawks.

It was there under legendary coach Bill Self, the athletic guard/forward established himself as an NBA prospect after being named to the Big 12 All-Conference Freshman Team, averaging nine points, 4.9 rebounds and one assist in 24 minutes per game with Kansas before being selected 35th overall by the Pacers in the 2024 NBA Draft.

While fighting for minutes in his rookie season on a playoff-bound team, Furphy has shown some glimpses of what he can do at the top level, including a highlight dunk late in the season for Indiana over Orlando Magic big man Goga Bitadze.

“He's just a pure competitor,” Carlisle said of Furphy to NBA.com after the game against Orlando.

“Everything about it is pure. [He] doesn't have a selfish bone in his body. [He] does everything hard, does everything with the right spirit… People get excited when a young player makes a play like that, but it's just his overall vibe is a winning vibe.”

And while very few people predicted the Pacers to reach the conference finals, as well as the NBA Finals, they could very well head into the series with the Knicks, starting on Thursday (Australian time) as favourites considering the fashion in which they dismissed the Cleveland Cavaliers last round.

The paths of Ingles and Furphy have almost been polar opposites, but either way the Aussie duo have fought tooth and nail to be on one of world basketball's biggest stages and an NBA championship ring would be well deserved.

On another note, all four teams left in the NBA playoffs have Australian or NBL links. Starting with two-way player Alex Ducas for the Thunder, who will not suit up in the playoffs but like Jack White with the Denver Nuggets in 2023 will win a ring if Oklahoma City take out the title. Ducas' teammate in Ousmane Dieng was a Next Star with the New Zealand Breakers in the 2021-22 season. While another former Next Star in Ariel Hukporti is in uniform for the Knicks, who are on a fairytale run.

List of Aussies who have won an NBA championship

• Luc Longley (1996, 1997, 1998)
• Andrew Gaze (1999)
• Patty Mills and Aron Baynes (2014)
• Andrew Bogut (2015)
• Matthew Dellavedova (2016)
• Jack White (2023)
• *Does not include Australian-born Kyrie Irving in 2016*