James White has experienced a lot of firsts in the Philippines.
Coming out of Georgia Tech back in 2016, the then-22 year old got his first taste of playing professionally overseas with the Mahindra Floodbuster. From there he learned how to handle pressure, embrace a new culture, and become a teammate.
Wednesday evening saw another first for the now-24 year old big man.
With 10 minutes remaining in the Phoenix Fuel Masters’ hard-fought game against the Blackwater Elite, White cramped up after converting a layup. And as he sat on the bench, a team personnel handed him something to drink.
“It was just a minor cramp, but I’m fine. They gave me some pickle juice, that was a first,” the high-leaping reinforcement shared.
“I never had pickle juice to treat a cramp.”
And it seemed to have worked, as a few minutes later, he was back on the court. His will to return drew praise from head coach Louie Alas.
“‘Di ko sure pero sabi naman niya sa akin noong bumalik siya, ‘I’m good coach, I’m good.’ We will see. Kung kailangan hindi ko siya ipraktis ng two days, hindi ko siya ipa-practice,” said Alas.
With White back on the court, Phoenix were able to eke out a 107-102 win to start their season on a high note. White finished with 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds.
Though he aims for the team to sustain this for the rest of the season, White is hoping that he will no longer cramp up, as he hated the bitter taste of pickle juice.
“Nagta-tighten, baka kulang lang sa saging yun. Bibigyan ko ng mga tatlong buwig na saging bukas tsaka iba naman ang klase ng buto ng made in USA yan e,” quipped Alas.
“Hopefully I don’t have anymore coming up,” added White.
