SALT LAKE CITY — The hair was dancing around as he curled around the screen at the top of the key and headed to the right side of the three-point line. That signature hair usually is for guard Coby White.
The legs were the next to dance as he caught the inbound pass from Ayo Dosunmu, gathered and did a two-step before letting go on that familiar jumper of his.
The momentum carried White to his right — nothing but net.
It only took 30 seconds for White to make an impact in his season debut.
Sidelined since August with a strained right calf, he made his highly anticipated return 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 had 27 points and eight assists and went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line.
It was a heroic effort, but it was all for naught as the Bulls fell to the Jazz in double overtime 150-147.
“The coaching staff talked to me about coming back and being aggressive, being who I was,” White said. “Not kind of tiptoeing. I focused on that.”
The fifth consecutive loss stung, but at least the Bulls (6-6) and coach Billy Donovan got one of their leaders back.
“One is the relationships that [White has] established with the group individually and collectively,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘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.
‘‘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. When you see [White] on his own, not being able to participate in practice, he’s up on a treadmill trying to get himself back. Coming in before practice, after practice, just really kind of disconnected, I think they all, every player that’s been in the league for a while has gone through some sort of injury. 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, got to the foul line six times, had three assists and was a plus-8.
He re-entered in the fourth quarter with only 6:38 left and the score tied. 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, then making a three-pointer with 2:26 left.
But Lauri Markkanen was a problem all night for his former team. He had a game-high 47 points for the Jazz. And Keyonte George’s three-pointer with two seconds left in the second overtime was the dagger.
