{"id":132149,"date":"2025-09-10T06:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T06:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/132149\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T06:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T06:36:09","slug":"why-nba-centre-jock-landale-has-thrown-himself-back-into-a-melbourne-bloodbath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/132149\/","title":{"rendered":"Why NBA centre Jock Landale has thrown himself back into a Melbourne \u201cbloodbath\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

But United are in the final weeks of pre-season, so when Landale asked to train, it wasn\u2019t an immediate yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said I\u2019ve got a real good opportunity this year and I want to come work out with you guys while I\u2019m home,\u201d Vickerman said.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

Melbourne United\u2019s Jock Landale dunks against Perth Wildcats in the NBL grand final series in 2021.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI checked with \u2018CG\u2019, Shea Ili and a few others like \u2018do you think this helps us?\u2019 and they all said yeah. It\u2019s been fun talking to him and getting his observations about the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor that gold group, getting an NBA player has been good for those guys, but he\u2019s also let other guys lead, then stepped in when needed. It\u2019s been awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landale signed a four-year, $US32 million (about $48.5 million) deal<\/a> with Houston Rockets in 2023 but only the first season was guaranteed. This off-season, they let him go after leaving him on the bench for large chunks of those two seasons.<\/p>\n

Landale read the landscape well, taking the Grizzlies\u2019 offer of a one-year, $US2.4 million deal because he saw few teams had cap space for bigger deals, while Memphis had 7\u20324 centre Zach Edey coming back from ankle surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Jock<\/p>\n

Jock Landale playing for the Houston Rockets last NBA season.Credit: AP<\/p>\n

So Landale will likely start at centre alongside stars such as Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson jnr.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I got that offer, I said to myself, \u2018This is something I can\u2019t pass up\u2019,\u201d Landale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two years in Houston where I played well when I played, but I didn\u2019t play enough. And I didn\u2019t want to be left behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good players without jobs right now. Knowing that their culture is what it is, and I feel as I fit that mould \u2013 I was really excited for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies have a loud, passionate fan base, while their players are known for their grit and aggressiveness.<\/p>\n

Landale wouldn\u2019t be drawn on the role coach Tuomas Iisalo pitched to him but he can\u2019t wait to get on court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a cohesiveness that really suits my personality,\u201d Landale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often in my career that I feel as though I\u2019ve gotten lucky, but in this instance, it feels as though something really good has popped up and I\u2019ve lucked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off the court, Landale has thrown himself into fatherhood since Archie\u2019s arrival \u2013 both the baby and the Grizzlies\u2019 offer arrived in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a whirlwind of excitement and joy,\u201d Landale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like \u2018I\u2019ve got a kid now, how does that affect what I\u2019m doing?\u2019 It was more \u2018this is all slotting into place perfectly\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been life-changing for both of us and how we see the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny parent knows that when that happens, it redefines you. It has changed me, changed my life and for the better.<\/p>\n

\u201cArchie slept 12 out of 15 hours to Australia, which was a treat. He has an American passport right now but he\u2019s Australian through and through.\u201d<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But United are in the final weeks of pre-season, so when Landale asked to train, it wasn\u2019t an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-132149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}