Jock Landale says he feels more valued than ever in the NBA after a season that began with doubt and ended with a serious injury. The Australian centre, who considered playing in Europe or returning to the NBL a year ago after helping Melbourne United to the 2021 championship, described the 2025-26 campaign as a “wild year” that began in Memphis and finished in Atlanta.
The 30-year-old posted career bests with the Grizzlies, averaging 11.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.6 steals, and carried that form into a playoff push with the Hawks following a midseason trade. “I really reignited that spark to be in this (NBA) environment and hopefully I can play in the league for another five years or so,” Landale told AAP, adding he enjoys the challenge of improving and proving doubters wrong.
Landale enters free agency with an uncertain future but made clear he would welcome a return to Atlanta under coach Quin Snyder alongside teammate and fellow Boomers player Dyson Daniels. He praised the Hawks’ locker-room culture as a “college team” environment that felt rare in the NBA and said he would like to settle in the city for a longer stint.
The season included an abrupt flurry of moves in February when Memphis traded Landale to Utah and the Jazz then dealt him to Atlanta less than 24 hours later. Landale drove six hours to join the Hawks for the next-night game and finished with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds, including a late three in a win over Utah. “I felt like I had three seasons in one,” he said of the campaign.
Landale’s season ended in April after a flagrant foul by Orlando’s Goga Bitadze resulted in an ankle injury that sidelined him for Atlanta’s first-round loss to New York, a 4-2 series defeat. He called the injury frustrating and said it disrupted the continuity the Hawks had built, praising teammates such as Mouhamed Gueye for stepping up. Landale said there was no surgery, that he had rested the ankle and recovered to prepare for a full offseason.
