NBL powerhouse battling NBA superstar\u2019s side for import<\/a><\/p>\nHead coach Jacob Chance helped guide his development during his first two seasons with the JackJumpers, while teammate Kyle Bowen has shared plenty of success alongside him. The pair won both the FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championship and the Under-18 Asia Championship with Australia before enjoying a strong 2025 campaign together at Canterbury in New Zealand\u2019s NBL.<\/p>\n
He will also reunite with former JackJumpers teammate and fellow NBL24 champion Fabijan Krslovic.<\/p>\n
Sean Macdonald of the JackJumpers, Anthony Drmic of the JackJumpers and Fabijan Krslovic of the JackJumpers pose with the Championship Trophy after winning game five of the NBL Championship Grand Final Series between Melbourne United and Tasmania JackJumpers . (Photo by Kelly Defina\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
United High Performance Manager Steve McAdam said Macdonald\u2019s rehabilitation was progressing strongly and believes the club can help him return at an elite level.<\/p>\n
\u201cSean has had really positive medical reports and is already in a good spot with his rehabilitation,\u201d McAdam said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur High Performance team can now use the next few months to build off the foundation of work he\u2019s already put in and progress him back to competitive basketball.<\/p>\n
\u201cLong term rehab provides a great opportunity to maximise an athlete\u2019s potential, as it gives us a chance to further enhance their strengths.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to Sean being able to return at an elite level and contribute as a United player for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
HOBART, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 5: Sean MacDonald of Tasmania JackJumpers during the round 15 NBL match between Tasmania Jackjumpers and South East Melbourne Phoenix at MyState Bank Arena, on January 5, 2025, in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Linda Higginson\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
United head coach Jacob Chance said bringing Macdonald back to Melbourne had been a major priority and emphasised there would be no pressure for him to accelerate his recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo bring someone of Sean\u2019s character, the human being that both he and his fianc\u00e9 Elle are, is a huge addition to our club for the long-term future,\u201d Chance explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cBringing Sean back to Melbourne was a massive focus. To have a scenario like this where he\u2019s picked us as his best environment to come in and trust our medical staff and trust our coaching staff to get him back to 100% is great.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no pressure on him to rush his rehab. He can take all the time he needs to get back on the court in the best condition possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be super hungry and motivated to try and get himself back to a level that we\u2019ve all seen in the NBL. He can really compete and contribute towards Championship level teams, so this is a great outcome for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
NBL club Melbourne United Head Coach Jacob Chance. Picture: Supplied\/MU MediaSource: Supplied<\/p>\n
With the addition of Macdonald, Melbourne United is edging closer to finalising its roster for the 2026-27 NBL season, with three import spots still to be filled. He joins Kyle Bowen, Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Joe Ingles, Fabijan Krslovic, Malith Machar and Sam Waardenburg on the roster, alongside Development Player Christian D\u2019Angelo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After one of the most challenging off-seasons of his career, former NBL champion Sean Macdonald has found a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-811762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811762","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=811762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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