Melbourne United v Perth Wildcats: Jo Lual-Acuil Jr on the call to ‘basketball dad’ Dean Vickerman he had to make

Before Jo Lual-Acuil Jr told Perth he’d agreed to become a Wildcat, he picked up the phone to call his “basketball dad”. Rivals for the first time, the texts have begun.

Plucked off the back courts at MSAC by Dean Vickerman in 2019, former Melbourne United champion Jo Lual-Acuil Jr will be a familiar face in unfamiliar colours on Sunday.

In an alternate reality, the 211cm star centre might be back in United blue this season but, when Perth came calling with an offer he couldn’t refuse, there was one man Lual-Acuil Jr had to call before he sealed his commitment.

“Before I called JR (Wildcats’ coach John Rillie), before I called anybody at Perth, my first conversation was Deano,” Lual-Acuil Jr told Code Sports.

“Deano is like my basketball dad.

From Melbourne United to Perth Wildcats, it's a homecoming, of sorts, for Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without him trusting me and putting me in a position to be able to be successful, and the growth that I’ve had as a professional, as a person, as a basketball player, as a father.

“Everything that I am right now is all because of Melbourne United and is all because of Deano.

“I don’t think there’s enough good things that I can say about Deano without getting a little bit emotional.

“That’s, my guy. I owe him a lot of my life.”

Dean Vickerman coaches Jo Lual-Acuil Jr during a 2020 game. Picture: AAP

The truth is, for a man who rarely smiled in fan photos, had historically shunned media interviews and rarely shown public emotion unless he was on a basketball court roaring and flexing, a little tear has welled in his eye and there’s just hint of a lump in his throat as he speaks.

That’s the real JLA, under the steely veneer of a man whose life began in wartime and was forced to flee South Sudan with his family for a refugee camp in Uganda, aged just 3.

Flashback to 2019 and Lual-Acuil Jr, back in Australia after a college stint at Baylor, he caught Vickerman’s attention.

“It’s been a fun journey with Jo,” Vickerman recalled.

“From the initial meeting of him being out in the back courts at MSAC, me inviting him to come practice with us and him just kind of stone-facing me and giving me nothing.

“I remember thinking ‘this guy’s going to be a tough one to crack’.

“That last spot on the roster at that time was down to Lucas Walker or Jo.

“He took that spot and just grew from there and I love how our relationship has grown.”

Big Jo during his rookie season. Picture: Michael Klein

JLA has taken to life in Wildcats’ colours. Picture: Getty Images

That relationship is about to be tested, just a little, on Sunday, when Lual-Acuil Jr returns to John Cain Arena on Sunday plotting the downfall of the team he helped win the 2021 championship.

United fans have already shown they’re quick to turn on former favourites, booing the legendary Matthew Dellavedova on his first return to JCA as a Sydney King.

Lual-Acuil Jr isn’t sure how he’ll be received but said he’s got “nothing but love” for both his former club and its fans.

“Melbourne is a place that I’m always going to hold dear to my heart,” he said.

“People always feel like ‘oh, he’s left’ and it has to be something negative as to why.

“But I think you can have duality and have love for two different things.

“I don’t think I’ll ever say anything bad about United and the fans and how much they embraced me and the love that I got over there.”

On Friday night, after United escaped Illawarra with a thrilling three-point win and the Wildcats pipped Tasmania, JLA hit the phone again.

“He text me last night after he finished playing,” Vickerman, on Saturday, said.

“I can’t tell you what he wrote but I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

MELBOURNE UNITED (1st, 12-2) v PERTH WILDCATS (4th, 8-5)

Sunday, 4.30pm AEDT, John Cain Arena

Originally published as Melbourne United v Perth Wildcats: Jo Lual-Acuil Jr on the call to ‘basketball dad’ Dean Vickerman he had to make