MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Joe Ingles is returning to play in Australia's National Basketball League after a 12-year NBA career spanning more than 800 games.
The 38-year-old Ingles signed with the NBL's Melbourne United on a two-year contract just days after the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Ingles played the last two seasons, were beaten by San Antonio in six games in the second round of the playoffs.
It's Ingles' second stint in the NBL — he began his professional career with the now-defunct South Dragons from 2006-2009, winning the 2007 rookie of the year and helping his team to the 2009 title.
Ingles’ NBA career was 810 regular-season games for the Utah Jazz, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, and Timberwolves, where he played only 267 regular-season minutes in two seasons (2024–26), appearing in 46 games.
The 2.03-meter (6-foot, 8-inch) forward is a five-time Olympian for Australia, winning a bronze medal with the Boomers in 2021 at the Tokyo Games. It marked Australia's first appearance on an Olympic podium in men's basketball.
“I don’t need the money, I don’t need the notoriety and I don’t need the presence of coming back, but I want to compete, I want to play and I want to win,” Ingles told the Australian Associated Press on Tuesday from Orlando, Florida. “That’s what I’ve missed the last couple of years; that competitiveness of being out on the court.”
Ingles said he was eager to return “home” to Melbourne with his wife, Renae, and their three children.
“I still love competing, I still love the game, and I believe I can genuinely help this group win,” Ingles said. “At this stage of my career, it’s not about individual achievements. It’s about impact, leadership, helping a group come together and chasing something meaningful.”
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
CoastalBoy said:
Providing Feedback said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.