Joe Ingles in depth: Long-time Boomers star adamant he has more to give as fifth Olympiad looms in Paris
Bronzed Boomer Joe Ingles is a notorious media recluse but, as a record-equalling fifth Olympics looms, he opens up about family, life, his special bond with Patty Mills and his Paris dream.
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Joe Ingles is realistic about this year’s Paris campaign.
He and Boomer brother Patty Mills could join Andrew Gaze as one of only three Australian men’s hoopers to compete at five Olympiads.
Or “Is this the last camp?”
“Who knows? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t,” he says.
The notoriously media-shy Aussie basketball icon, in his first in-depth interview in over a year, knows one thing for sure: He still has plenty to give to the green and gold.
The bronzed Boomer opens up on his unshakeable bond with Patty Mills, dedication to his family and tells Michael Randall he’ll be doing everything within his power to back up his post-2023 World Cup declaration: “you’ll have to kill me to get me out of here”.
BOOMER JOE REALISTIC, BUT STILL HAS MUCH TO GIVE
For the past five Boomers’ Olympic preparations, dating back to Beijing, 2008, one voice has been a constant — Joe Ingles.
Whether it’s delivering some sage advice to a young gun or serving up some biting trash talk during a willing scrimmage — like he did last Saturday during a brutal hitout at Ivanhoe Grammar in Melbourne — the NBA veteran is in the thick of — and loves — it.
The 36-year-old knows what’s been written and said about him in the media and by fans regarding his status as an international player.
But, if you think even a hint of doubt has crept in, don’t fool yourself.
“I’m lucky enough to not worry about what people write or say about you, it’s never affected me and I’m in the mental space of only caring about what my family and close people around me think,” Ingles said.
“I don’t lose sleep over (what’s said), I’m very comfortable. The outside of ‘Joe should be in the team, shouldn’t be in the team, he’s old’ everyone’s got an opinion. They’re going to write what they’re going to write, fans are going to say what they’re going to say.
“I know what (Boomers coach Brian Goorjian) Goorj wants, I know what my teammates expect from me, I know what my family expects from me and realistically, that’s all I give a f**k about.”
While acutely aware, at age 36, Father Time is catching up, the competitive juices still flow.
Ingles believes the experience accumulated throughout 18 professional seasons in the NBL, Europe and the NBA, coupled with a commitment to adding to and adapting his game still makes him a vital piece for the Boomers in Paris.
“I’m not stupid. I’m very realistic,” he said.
“I’m about to be 37 and I’ve been very lucky to do what I’ve done. I know, as you get older, you get slower but you find other ways to contribute.
“You might be able to shoot more or play pick and roll at a higher level. Defensively, figuring out if I’ve lost a step, quickness-wise, how can I make up for that? Is that reading the scout in more detail?
“All those different things to keep adding to the group.
“I’m very well aware of my age and where I’m at in my career but I also feel like I still add a lot to the group, whether that’s on the sideline helping (Josh) Giddey and these young guys with different things or on the court, I’ve still got the skills to give and I’m still valuable.”
PATTY AND JOE: TEAMMATES, FRIENDS, BROTHERS FOR LIFE
It’s hard to write about Joe Ingles without mentioning Patty Mills.
They made history winning Olympic bronze in Tokyo together, poured their own money into what was once a struggling Boomers program and have become family.
But it’s more than that.
The two basketball prodigies, one a lanky South Aussie forward, the other a proud Indigenous guard out of Canberra, came through the Australian Institute of Sport together and have been the face of the Boomers for as long as most kids can remember.
“One of the coolest parts for me is doing it with Patty, someone that I’ve grown up with and, with Drewy (Andrew Gaze) being the only one to play in five Olympics so far in basketball, hopefully Patty and I are the next,” he said.
“The best thing about our relationship is, it’s organic and it’s real. It’s not just ‘we have to be friends because we’ve been here the whole time’.
“We used to have naps at the AIS at the same time and hang out, go together for lunch.
“Obviously, throughout our careers there’s been times when you fade off a little bit because he was in college and I went to the NBL, I went to Europe, he was in the NBA.
“We could not talk for a couple of months but we’d get back together and it’s so natural.”
The pair are more like family, now, with Joe’s parents Tim and Lynne familiar with Benny and Yvonne Mills, while their wives, former Aussie netball star Renae Ingles and entrepreneur and model Alyssa Mills are the best of friends.
“My kids love him,” Ingles says of his three children Milla, Jacob and Jack.
“He’s like an uncle to them. Being in Florida last season, he came over to the house and swam with my kids and they talk about that all the time.
“No matter where we are in the world they think they can swim with him everywhere so they wanted to swim with him in Melbourne — but it’s too cold.
“If I’m on the phone to him, my daughter will stick her head in, That’s the memories now that you kind of think of and remember.”
“My daughter wants to come and have a sleepover at the hotel because she wants to see Patty and the guys.
“Basketball’s given me that with so many people.”
As with any brothership, it’s not always smooth sailing — the competitive juices flowed during a scrimmage on Saturday, where Patty and Joe got a little heated. Ingles copped a tech foul and jawed at the ref.
“As you get older you get better balance but the one thing I know I’ll never lose, whether I’m a good basketball player or I’m old or over the hill is the competitiveness,” Ingles said.
“I’m always going to have that. I’m still out there, talking s**t, that’s what I do.
“It’s not personal, I just love that competitive nature.”
The two mates quickly broke bread, post practice, spending about 20 minutes shooting free throws, chatting and laughing away.
EMBRACING A NEW ROLE
Ingles was a starting lock for most of his international career but, when Goorjian shifted him to the bench during the World Cup, many wondered if he would embrace the new role.
He says it wasn’t an unfamiliar one — he’d spent two seasons doing it in Utah under Quin Snyder, one in which he was runner-up to teammate Jordan Clarkson for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.
“Obviously everyone wants to play, I want to play 40 minutes a game but I’m on the other side where it’s like, ‘I get it’,” he said.
“If Goorj wants to play the young guys more, I’m going to be there to help them — if he
wants to start me, bench me, I don’t lose sleep over that.
“It’s not a demotion, It’s what’s best for the team, so you get to the point of ‘how can I be the best in that role?’ — ‘All right, let me be that vocal and steady presence for that second unit, space the floor for whoever’s out there I’m with, whatever it is’.
“I want to win and whatever role that is for me, then let’s roll it out and win.
“If we don’t win I’ll be p**sed but, as long as we’re winning and playing the right way and our young guys are learning and I can help in that, then I’m happy.”
FOSTERING THE BABY BOOMERS
Ingles looks out on the court in Ivanhoe and laughs when he sees giant 220cm phenom Rocco Zikarsky, one of a host of young Aussies getting a taste of the Boomers culture.
“I think I just finished my 18th year — Rocco’s 17, so he was still being made,” he laughed.
There’s a bunch of former Boomers smattered around the court, Andrew Bogut, Brad Newley, Scott Fisher, Adam Gibson, Paul Rogers among them.
“The Boguts and those guys were we were lucky enough to play with, when they retired, me Patty and (Chris) Goulding, Nick Kay, the guys who have been around a bit longer, you want to continue that culture we’ve built.
“Basketball is one thing, the Xs and Os and doing what Goorj wants but the other side of it is bringing the guys to (practice in) Los Angeles (last month) so they can get a vibe of it and getting (Alex) Toohey in there and getting Rocco over there.
“These guys are going to be the next group with the Giddeys.
“Winning medals is obviously massive but the next part right after that is continuing this culture that guys want to be involved in.
“I don’t know if it’s responsibility or pride but we want that to be a legacy that goes on.”
AN ICONIC BOOMERS MOMENT
The most memorable moment of the Boomers’ bronze medal game in Tokyo has become an iconic image.
As the buzzer sounded on Australia’s 107-93 win over Slovenia that secured the Rose Gold — the first men’s basketball Olympic medal — Ingles made a beeline for his mate.
“As soon as we won that in Tokyo all I wanted to do was find him,” Ingles said.
“It ended up being this f**king epic photo and then people start sending us pictures of murals of it, which is pretty cool.”
It wasn’t the first — or last — time an embrace between the two warriors was frozen in time.
Asked if there will be a replica moment in Paris: “Of course”.
WHY WE DON’T HEAR FROM JOE MUCH
He’s notoriously media shy, doesn’t crave the limelight and says no to most requests for interviews, so it’s a treat to hear some insight from Ingles.
“This is probably the first time I’ve sat down and done media for years,” he muses.
“It’s nothing against you or anyone else, it’s just my priorities have changed and my family’s number one, basketball is right there and my relationship with these guys.
“I want to live in the moment of what I’m doing.
“I want to be in the bus with the guys instead of doing media.”
It’s harder to say no in the NBA, where he spent last season with Orlando — and now has the side project of securing his future in the US after the Magic declined the second-year of his contract (the two sides are reportedly interested in continuing the relationship).
“I tried as hard as I could to do no media in the NBA but it’s hard when they let them in the locker room and they shove a microphone in your face,” he laughed.
MAKING A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE
The Ingles family was changed forever when Jacob was diagnosed with autism, aged just 2.
Mum and dad moved heaven and earth to give their son the best treatment available.
But it didn’t — and hasn’t — stopped there.
The Ingles have become an integral advocate and fundraiser, helping other families navigate life with someone on the spectrum.
“We’re very lucky financially with what we can get for Jacob and we’ve maxed him out on every hour possible with his speech and occupational therapy,” he said.
“We’re very lucky to be able to do that but you see how many families don’t have that luxury.
“It would be incredibly selfish of me to not put my time, effort, resources and finances into helping these other families.
“When Jacob was diagnosed at two and didn’t speak, he was non-verbal until 4, we saw that two years impact of what it did for him.
“So who am I to not help someone else when I have got a bit of time and the finances and the ability to get into a lot of rooms that people can’t get into?”
One of those rooms was with the mayor and chief of police in Utah after a shocking 2020 incident where an unarmed 13-year-old autistic boy was shot and seriously injured by police.
The boy was shot at eleven times after he ran from his house during a mental breakdown.
“I called the police chief in Utah and got the whole first responders training,” Ingles said.
“When we heard about it in the news. It was like ‘if that was Jacob he would have acted the same way, depending on how people approach him.
“Utah was the first state to have all the first responders consciously trained in how to handle these situations.
“We still, to this day, get emails from people who got in a similar situation saying it would have been different if they didn’t know how to handle it.
“If we’ve done something that’s helped save lives, we’ve done something good.”
The Ingles’ give hundreds of thousands to struggling families and are board members of Kulture City, a non-profit that promotes sensory accessibility and acceptance.
"It's the opportunity for my son the be allowed to come and be at a game and be accepted for exactly who he is."
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 2, 2023
Tonight we celebrate Autism Acceptance Night and shine a light on the work Joe & Renae Ingles do in the community. pic.twitter.com/52tLSH0nUX
They’ve opened sensory rooms at several locations, including at John Cain Arena, which make attending a Melbourne United or Melbourne Vixens game possible for those who struggle with sensory issues, especially given the large and loud crowds within the arena.
“Jacob is going to be Jacob forever. He’s not going to not be autistic one day,” he said.
“Our first priority is him and making sure he’s good and our other kids but anything we can do in that space to help others, I’m happy to help out.
LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL
Ingles knows he’s closer to the end than the beginning but he’s not quite sure yet what he’ll do once the last ball is dribbled.
One thing’s for certain: you won’t see him in a retirement press conference.
“I don’t need that big parade of like ‘Joe’s retired’, I’ll just be gone,” he said.
“I’ll get Renae to tweet it or something. I don’t need all that, that’s for other guys.
“Obviously, there’s going to be a day where it all ends and I’ll probably just walk off and not play anymore.”
Ingles will plan post-basketball life around his family but hasn’t ruled out staying in the game in some fashion.
“Part of where we live and what we do and all that is going to be where Renae can pursue her career,” he said.
“My priority number one is to spend more time at home. I’ve missed so much of my kids’ lives and birthdays and all that.
“Whatever role, if it is with an NBA team or in Australia or whatever it is, it’s going to be a bit more on my time.
“I want to take my kids to school, I want to be there for daddy-come-and-read-at-school day.”
Mentoring young players with the Boomers and in Orlando has stoked a teaching fire.
“I enjoy helping the young guys the last 12 months,” he said.
“Being in the World Cup in that camp with these new young guys and then Orlando with the youngest team — apart from me.
“I’d never done it to that extent, speaking to Mose (Magic coach Jamahl Mosley), he said ‘you’re going to play and some nights, you’ll be less and I need you to stay locked in with that (teaching) side of it’.
“It’s obviously a challenge because sometimes you just want to f**king get on the court, I don’t want to sit on the bench and concentrate that deeply.
“But I really enjoyed working with someone like Jalen Suggs, for example, he just wanted to learn.
“I enjoyed it from the guys who really wanted to do it, probably more than I thought I would.”
CAN THE BOOMERS SHOCK THE WORLD?
Ingles believes no team on the planet is battling as hard or intensely as this Boomers squad.
It’ll be whittled down from 17 to 12 after two games against China in Melbourne on Tuesday and Thursday.
Team USA, Canada and several European teams are stacked with NBA talent that will far exceed those of the World Cup squads.
But Ingles says “we’re right there”.
“Obviously a lot of (NBA) guys have put their names forward to playing this one,” he said.
“Part of it is not worrying too much about other teams. We’ve always pride ourselves on being us and playing our style.
“Giddey said at the end of practice that we have so many guys that can handle the ball, so many ways we can defend and switching with different line-ups and how tall and long we are.
“I don’t know if there are many teams practising as hard as us and as competitive as us and who are even as deep as what we can go with from our group.
“That’s our competitive edge. We’ve got to play hard as f**k, we’re going to push the ball, play every possession at both ends.
“At the World Cup, there was a bit of a drop off, defensively, but we also had six-seven new guys and we were learning new stuff and how to play with each other.
“So to be able to have a heavy per cent of the same group back and add some pieces here and there, I’m super confident that if we play the way we can and should, we’ve got as much chance as anyone else.
“We’re realistic, ‘yeah, it’s going to be tough’, our group’s going to be tough.
“But to win a medal like we did in Tokyo you’ve got to run through some good teams.”
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