Basketballer Joe Ingles appears as the archetype of the Australian larrikin. There is one box, however, he no longer ticks. The 39-year-old gave up alcohol in 2022 after suffering a serious knee injury, and he has now gone more than 1,500 days without drinking.
At that point, it was just one aspect of aiding his recovery. Like staying healthy and avoiding junk food. I played my first game and I was just like, ‘eh’.” “My rehab was like 10 and something months.
You go that long without a drink, and you’re, ‘Oh, do I really need this?’” His wife, Renae, a former Australian netballer and now coach and businesswoman, expressed pride about the couple’s milestone on Instagram this week, and highlighted how “uncomfortable” it made people around them feel. Her husband has found it an adjustment as he came to terms with life back home. When you catch up with your mates, you grab a beer or a coffee, really, they’re the two options,” he says, adding he has not ultimately found it hard to resist.
It’s like you deleted Instagram and didn’t use it for a few months, you would just completely move on with your life and you wouldn’t even think about it any more, so we don’t even think about it. It’s not even a question, I think it’s more funny now that people will try and explain to us why they are drinking instead of just enjoy their night.” The couple and their three children are now adjusting to Melbourne after 12 years on the NBA rollercoaster. Ingles would typically travel for more than 40 road games each year, and he played for four different teams over his final five seasons.
He has started the season for Melbourne United well, even if the highly fancied team is yet to fully gel. Despite being so far away, Inglis still watches the NBA, which gets under way this week. We’d love to see him in the NBL.
I think the fans would love to see him. But what is he, two days since injury? There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before those decisions even become a thing.
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