Boomers bolter: NBA opportunity on the cards for Jack McVeigh ahead of Olympic tune-up v USA
Jack McVeigh is closing in on an NBA call-up that would have been unthinkable a year ago. MICHAEL RANDALL and JESSICA ROBINSON chart what’s next for the Boomers bolter.
Basketball
Don't miss out on the headlines from Basketball. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Amid all the Aussie and NBL alumni catching the eye at Summer League, one emergent Olympic debutant is on the lips of NBA executives as he prepares to face LeBron James and Team USA – 13,000KMS away in Dubai.
Multiple sources in Las Vegas told CODE Sports Boomers bolter Jack McVeigh was being talked about by NBA teams as a potential two-way contract candidate.
The reigning NBL grand final MVP, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, will go head-to-head with the legendary James in an Olympic warm-up against Team USA, with plenty of NBA eyes watching.
It’s another timely opportunity for the 28-year-old, who now has the very real chance to ball out in Paris and walk into an NBA team.
McVeigh’s peerless work ethic and ever-evolving skill set have triggered a meteoric mid-career emergence.
He powered Tasmania to its historic maiden NBL championship with 17.8 points on 44 per cent shooting from deep, to go with 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals, crowning that victory over Melbourne United with the series MVP.
During that series, the JackJumpers’ star went global with one of the greatest highlights in NBL history – ‘The Shot’ – his remarkable half-court game three winner.
The 203cm Cabarita Beach-born forward has, for some months, been championed as an NBA-level player by Australian-based American hoops journalist Sam Vecenie.
“I am firmly on-board with an NBA team signing Jack McVeigh to a two-way contract this summer,” Vecenie tweeted in March.
“Dude has been lights out all year for Tasmania. One of the best players in the NBL.
“Killer shooter, has expanded his game so much. Legit worth a flyer for an NBA team.”
McVeigh, the ultimate philosopher, on Monday morning tweeted: “Playing basketball in Dubai preparing for Team USA.”
“It isn’t the success that prepared me for this moment. It’s the failures.
“Obstacles conquered give you confidence. When your next challenge stares at you. Ask “what might this be preparing me for?”
The answer to McVeigh’s own question might just be “the NBA”.
BOOMERS OLYMPIC WARM-UPS
Game one v USA, Tuesday July 16, 2am AEST
Game two v Serbia, Wednesday July 17, 2am AEST
*Watch on Kayo Sports and ESPN
The Tassie duo who dared to dream together
It was a moment that many dream of and few achieve. Making it to the Olympics.
And then there’s doing it with your close mate.
Riding the highs and lows together, this Boomers story is one of a movie.
And it’s just getting started.
JackJumpers’ champion teammates and close friends, Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay dared to dream of the chance that they’d be on the plane to Paris together.
The two went out to dinner on the Wednesday night between exhibition matches last week imagining what could be, 24 hours later they were in the team.
“To do it with Mags (Will Magnay), we went out, had a little date night, giggling about the whole experience and if we got to go to Paris and being there for each other so it’s definitely been special,” McVeigh told Code Sports.
After representing the green and gold twice at Asian qualifiers, McVeigh, 27, has flirted with making a major tournament and this time round quite literally shot his way into the starting 12. Securing his spot in the eyes of coach Brian Goorjian and selectors at the first of two exhibition matches in Melbourne with an impressive game-high 24 points, notching up a fiery 6/8 3PT shots.
Jack McVeigh is in the zone 🤯
— NBL (@NBL) July 2, 2024
He's up to 24 points halfway through the third quarter 👀
Watch the Boomers vs China LIVE now on ESPN 📺 pic.twitter.com/U5g64sOJFo
Hitting ‘The Shot’ to win the pivotal Game 3 of this year’s NBL Grand Final series and being named the series MVP and JackJumpers MVP only added to his campaign to play international ball.
For Magnay, 25, the Paris games will be the first opportunity to officially suit up in an Australian jersey at senior level after knee and foot injuries interrupted his early playing career. But the JackJumpers’ Defensive Player of the Year impressed Goorjian as soon as he checked in to camp, the coach declaring “you (Magnay) had us right at the start of camp, you’re a piece that this team’s been missing.”
Dunks & Blocks on repeat 🔄
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🜠(@JackJumpers) April 29, 2024
A stand out season from Defensive Player of the Year Will Magnay. pic.twitter.com/g9VByiAeSF
A video shared to Basketball Australia’s Instagram account capturing the moment the JackJumpers became Olympians pulled on the heartstrings of basketball fans, with Magnay’s “did Jack make it?” a clear sign of the shared bond between the two. It’s a friendship that goes way back to training at the AIS.
“That (Magnay finding out) was adorable, his first thought was if I got in, it’s just so nice to have a friend like that,” McVeigh said.
“Since going to the AIS, getting to the JackJumpers three years ago, the championship this year and now making an Olympic team together, to do it all with Will has been really special.”
“After we both found out, we were just up talking for a couple of hours in the hotel room, just taking it all in. Yeah it was pretty cute.”
It would be an understatement to say that McVeigh was betting on himself, the NBL champion got married only a few days before the Boomers training camp was set to begin in Melbourne - Magnay by his side on his big day- and chose to swap out the honeymoon and post-wedding celebration with 15 friends in Bali for a chance at the Olympic dream.
“It was all planned so long ago and I had no idea about anything,” McVeigh laughed. With the choice between the two “an easy decision.”
Each Boomer found out their fate post-game on Thursday night, meaning some like McVeigh were left waiting to the early hours of Friday to know if they’d be heading to Paris. It added a further layer of emotion to the whole experience.
“You see me crying like a baby in that video but finding out was just a release of emotion, it had been a pretty stressful couple of hours after the game just waiting your turn to be told.”
“I went in at about midnight and I was quite overwhelmed.”
For the JackJumpers, to have two of their championship players and pillars of the team selected for Olympic duties plus head of high performance Ryan Carroll continuing on with the national team, comes as a huge nod to the program they’ve got in place.
“For the organisation and all the people who have worked behind the scenes, it’s a big moment for this club and a big moment for the state,” JackJumpers coach Scott Roth said.
“It’s an incredible achievement by my coaching staff who have done the hard work for three years with those guys.”
“They’ll play wherever. They’re plug and play, you just put them on the floor and they’ll figure out what they need to get done.”
“Scott Roth, he’s one of the first people I was messaging, I’ve got a lot of love for Scott Roth,” McVeigh said.
“Without JackJumpers, without Scott Roth I am not in this position at all.”
“And Ryan (Ryan Carroll, Boomers’ high performance) too, we’ve got such a family vibe down in Tassie, so it’s great to bring some of that over to the Boomers and to Paris.”
Straight to the pool room 🆠pic.twitter.com/OhOb4VlyEv
— Tasmania JackJumpers 🜠(@JackJumpers) April 4, 2024
With Australia drawn in what is now known as the ‘pool of death,’ a group with Spain, Canada and Greece - McVeigh says the Boomers want nothing less than to compete alongside the world’s powerhouse teams.
“You want to go to these global tournaments and take on the best, we want to take on those challenges.”
“And it’s fun, I can’t wait to just do my favourite thing I love to do, which is play basketball.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Boomers bolter: NBA opportunity on the cards for Jack McVeigh ahead of Olympic tune-up v USA
Ex-Aussie basketball star dead at 54
The Australian basketball community is in mourning after the death of a former NBL star and South Australian legend.
Basketball blow: Seahawks bow out of NBL1 North
The North Gold Coast Seahawks have withdrawn from the 2025 NBL1 North competition. Find out why, and what it means for the league with another team also looking to leave.