Aussie NBA star Joe Ingles’ ‘magical’ family’s fairytale

Joe Ingles may be an Aussie NBA cult hero, but his autistic son captured hearts around the world as he battled his diagnosis to watch his dad take the court for the first time.

For Australian sporting royalty Joe and Renae Ingles, their proudest moment didn’t happen on a court or atop a medal podium in front of a roaring crowd.

But it was a moment that warmed hearts all around the world.

It came on the sidelines of an NBA game last month, when the couple’s autistic eight-year-old son Jacob managed to see his dad take to the court with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first time ever.

From the moment Joe Ingles’ name was called that night – his first start in three years – and until the final buzzer announcing the Timberwolves’ 134-93 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Renae, Jacob and his siblings Milla and Jack were in the crowd cheering him on.

Jacob sat through his Dad’s entire basketball game for the first time.

Joe with his children after the game.

Jacob – who sometimes couldn’t even make it into the stadium due to the overwhelming sensory overload – was able to stay for the entire game, even insisting his mum set a timer during breaks to make sure he didn’t miss a second of the action.

“When I think about mine and Joe’s careers, we’ve had so many big wins on and off the court when it comes to sporting achievements that we’re incredibly proud of,” Renae said.

“But this one just felt like a really big family win that we can carry forever.

“That moment with Jacob felt really magical.”

But his breakthrough was no accident.

What viewers didn’t see

Viewers saw the fairytale moment on TV or shared online, but what they didn’t see were the years, months and even hours leading up to the game.

The practice of getting Jacob in and out of the car. The practice drives to the stadium. The practice of walking inside.

Taking Jacob to his favourite park to run around and burn some energy before the game.

Getting him dressed in his most comfortable clothes. Meticulously timing the car ride to make sure they were not too early or late. The little bag of Goldfish crackers hidden in Renae’s bag – Jacob’s sensory food.

“There’s a lot behind the scenes that goes on for an entire family, not just for that individual or for the parents, but for the siblings as well,” Renae said.

“We’re constantly learning and growing and evolving and trying new things and getting it wrong and trying again.

“We celebrate the milestones when we hit them. We celebrate nights like the NBA night, which was incredibly special for him and for our family, where we can just do like we do with the other two kids. But it’s not all fairytales.”

Joe represented Australia at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. Picture: Getty Images

Renae said she and Joe had been “blown away by the reaction” to Jacob’s big moment, but “we’re also not surprised either”.

“This is such a normal thing that so many parents across the globe or individuals, not only on the spectrum, but those that struggle with sensory needs, deal with daily,” she said.

“And for us to be able to celebrate that as a family and share it with the community and the wider community is something really special for us, because we want to be able to represent others. We want to be able to make these places safe for not only the individual with sensory needs, but also the family around as well.”

The Ingleses are ambassadors for Kulture City – a non-profit that advocates for sensory and accessibility and inclusion for people with invisible disabilities like autism.

Joe Ingles of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts during the second quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Picture: Getty Images

Joe’s partner Renae with their three children watching on.

The hard-won milestone

Jacob’s breakthrough night had been preceded by one other game that he had managed to sit through – but it was a match Joe didn’t get to play.

In that previous match, Joe exchanged shocked and excited glances from the bench with Renae, who was in the crowd with the kids.

There was Jacob: dancing, high-fiving his neighbours and cheering.

Every time Joe turned around, he expected the family to have left for the quiet of the secluded room that offers a buffer for Jacob against the sensory explosion of the crowds, noise and bright lights of the arena.

It was an astonishing milestone for young Jacob and the family, who have worked tirelessly to support his development since his diagnosis.

The Ingleses are ambassadors for Kulture City – a non-profit that advocates for sensory and accessibility and inclusion for people with invisible disabilities like autism.

Renae, a former Australian professional netballer and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, shared her excitement on Instagram.

“Watching him soak in every moment, I couldn’t help but tear up with pride,” she wrote.

“It’s been six years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance to reach this point, and here we are, riding high on this incredible achievement.”

Bigger than basketball

When Joe, who represented Australia at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, got the call up to move from the Orlando Magic last year, they decided Renae and the children would stay behind in Florida and he would visit as often as they could.

“We just thought it wasn’t quite fair on the kids to move again, particularly because they’re so settled in their schools,” Renae said.

“A huge part of that reason was that Jacob is in a school here, he’s thriving and incredibly happy, and he comes home every day engaged and a happy, healthy little boy.”

The family was still in Minnesota for the school holidays a few days after Jacob’s first full match, when Joe was called into the office of Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.

It was hours before a make-or-break game against the New Orleans Pelicans and Joe feared he was in trouble.

But his coach instead began peppering him with questions about Jacob and the family’s journey with his autism diagnosis before delivering the news: “You’re going to start tonight so that Jacob can see you play”.

Renae Ingles with her children spectating as their Dad, Joe, takes to the court.

Joe, shocked by the gesture, insisted he didn’t need to start, knowing the importance of the make-or-break game, but Finch insisted.

“No, I want him to hear you get your name called out and see you run onto the court, and if for some reason he doesn’t last another full game again then he’s seen you,” the coach said.

Those who were in the stadium that night have described the deafening eruption of cheers and applause from the Timberwolves’ locker room when Finch broke the news to the team before the game. It was Joe’s first game start in three years and his first ever with the Wolves.

Renae said the gesture by the team was a testament to Joe.

“For the coach to make that call and his teammates to rally behind it with the cheers that came out of the room when they were told before the game, that’s not just basketball,” she said.

“It speaks to the kind of person that Joe is, that he’s respected, that he’s trusted, and that he was worth showing up for.

“So there’s a lot of layers to that obviously and Jacob was the centrepiece of that and the representation of how we could make inclusion visible for others to see that night.

“It was bigger than the minutes, it was bigger than the scoreboard, it was bigger than the game of basketball.”

Joe Ingles and son Jacob.

Jacob wears a shirt the family has produced with Joe’s coach’s words.

‘Sometimes you gotta do the human thing’

After the game, when asked about his decision to give Joe a start position, his coach told reporters: “Sometimes you gotta do the human thing.”

“We always talk about how all these minutes matter, and (Ingles’) minutes mattered for another reason,” Finch said.

The family has since produced T-shirts with the coach’s words “Do the human thing” with all proceeds going directly to Kulture City.

Weeks on from that special night in Minnesota, basketball nights in the Ingles household already look a little different, with Jacob, Milla and Jack glued to the TV screen watching their dad’s games.

“It’s flipped on its head and Jacob cannot miss a single second of the action,” Renae said.

“So you can’t walk down the stairs 30 seconds before the end of the game because you might miss a part of the action.”

The Timberwolves are locked in a battle to secure a position in the playoffs and if they do, Jacob is determined to be there to see it.

“We are hoping that we’ll be there, front and centre in the crowd, being able to support Joe in the playoffs,” Renae said.

Originally published as Aussie NBA star Joe Ingles’ ‘magical’ family’s fairytale