SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The hair was dancing as he curled around the screen at the top of the key and headed to the right side of the three-point line. The signature hair usually is for Coby White.
The legs were the next to dance, as the Bulls guard caught the inbound pass from teammate Ayo Dosunmu, gathered and did a two-step, letting go on that all-too familiar jumper of his.
The momentum carried White to his right as the final dance of the play came between basket and ball. A tango of sorts. Quick and intimate. Nothing but net.
Just like that, White had not only made his 2025-26 season debut but only took 30 seconds to make an impact.
Sidelined since August with a right calf strain, White made his highly anticipated return on Sunday, and while he was saddled with a minutes restriction that he blew past by more than six minutes (it was set at 24), he still managed to score 27 points, hand out eight assists and go 14-of-14 from the free throw line.
A hero’s showing, but all for naught as the Bulls fell in double overtime 150-147.
“The coaching staff talked to me about coming back and being aggressive, being who I was,” White said of his return after the loss. “Not kind of tip-toing. I focused on that.”
The fifth-straight loss stung, but what also mattered to the Bulls (6-6) and Donovan in the immediate was they got one of their leaders back, and not just on the basketball court.
“One is the relationships that he’s established with the group individually and collectively, all of them have a lot of respect for his work ethic, his commitment, who he is as a human being and a person, and I think with some of the injuries we’ve had to battle in the backcourt, I mean Josh (Giddey) has missed some games, Tre (Jones) is missing a game, it gives us a little more depth,” Donovan said of the impact of White’s return. “The other thing too is when you see as a player, whether it be Zach (Collins) or Lonzo (Ball) last year, these guys know how fragile this stuff is and how quickly it can be taken away.
“So I think on a lot of different levels they are excited to have him back.”
That definitely showed in the first half, as White scored 12 points in just over 12 minutes of work, got to the free throw line six times and had three assists to finish a plus-8 in plus/minus.
His real test came in his final stint, however, as White re-entered the game in the fourth with just 6:38 left and the score tied.
Not ideal considering the Bulls once held a 15-point lead over the four-win Jazz, but the hand he was delt. Nothing like getting thrown right back into the fire.
White did his part, getting to the free throw line, finding Dosunmu for an open three-pointer, and then hitting another three-pointer of his own with 2:26 left.
But it was one-time Bull Lauri Markkanen that was a problem for his former team, as he connected on his 42nd point with a mid-range jumper with 48 seconds left to give Utah the lead.
No problem as White found a cutting Giddey.
Markkanen split a pair from the free throw line with 19 seconds, as the game still needed two overtimes to get resolved. It was Markkanen and his 47 points, along with a Keyonte George three-pointer with two seconds left that was the final dagger.