For the last 12 years, Joe Ingles’ playing career has been in the NBA. Now 38 years old, it’s evident that his time in the league is winding down.
Ingles has spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Playing time has been minimal, and the Australian forward has taken more of the veteran leadership role. Reports are that he could be looking at returning to his home country to play professionally.
According to Ulgan Uluc of ESPN, Ingles may be eyeing a return to Australia to play in the NBL. Uluc writes,
"Joe Ingles has interest in returning to the NBL, and the growing sentiment is that he's keeping a close eye on both Melbourne teams. Ingles has spoken with both United and the South East Melbourne Phoenix, while the Adelaide 36ers appear to be the most proactive team chasing the five-time Olympian. Ingles is in his 12th season in the NBA, currently playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves."
Could Ingles’ NBA tenure be mere months away from being over?
Ingles first played professionally in Australia Â
It has been quite a while since Ingles played professionally in Australia. He played for the South Dragons in the NBL, with his last season there coming in 2008-09.
After, he played overseas for a few more years before joining the Utah Jazz in the 2014-15 season. Ingles played eight seasons for them, a year apiece with the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic, and now he has spent the last two with the Timberwolves. He also helped the Land Down Under earn a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Fans of the team haven’t seen him in action all that often. Ingles has appeared in only 44 games for Minnesota for a total of 216 minutes. In that time, he has scored 34 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, and dished out 43 assists. It has been spoken a lot, though, about what a superb teammate he is, and it is a large reason why the Wolves re-signed him before free agency even began this past offseason.
Of course earlier in his career, Ingles was a quite useful player. He has played in 57 career playoff games and started 40 of them. The 6-foot-8 forward was the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year in 2020-21 while with Utah.
The ESPN article doesn’t state that Ingles will return to Australia next season, but given his age and interest, it seems like a strong possibility.