Domino White

Domino White
(Wyvern, F)
ID#811

2016 Draft Candidate
Position strengths PG SG SF PF C
Nickname(s)
Donny; Wynner
Personal information
Species	Wyvern
Gender	male
Hometown	Wagga Wagga, Australia
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Shoots	Right
Education
School	Australian Institute of Furry Sports (AUS)
Player Contacts
Agent	Nasuella

Coming straight out of a moderately successful career in the national Australian basketball league (the FBL), Domino "Donny" White represents another part of the cultural melting pot that is Australia. In his case, he comes from Wagga Wagga, known among tourists for having a silly name but among sports fans for being the hometown of a disproportionately large number of successful Australian athletes. Perhaps it's fitting that Donny himself is known both for being a massive goofball with a silly name, and as a surprisingly competent player who's learned how to play with an unusual body. (Domino claims that he acts dumber than he really is to catch other players off-guard, but A. he's probably lying, and B. they'd catch on eventually. In fact, they probably HAVE.)

Anyway, let's go further back and start from the beginning. Growing up in "Wagga" (as the locals call it, because let's face it, you only need to say "Wagga" once) as Dominic Wynn, sports were just part of everyday life for the young wyvern. Whether it was rugby (blech!), football (soccer to you lot), tennis, netball, softball or any of those American imports, if it was a sport, someone played it. Donny spent a lot of time on the wing, along with the birds that made up a good portion of the city's population. On the ground he was fairly clumsy, but in the air he was graceful, the "big dumb flying lizard beast" to every bird's "beauty".

Despite being (let's be frank) an idiot, Donny's cheerful and friendly nature meant that he got along easily with a lot of people. While he largely hung out with other "wingers", it seemed as though he just wanted to be friends with everyone.

Then came puberty.

Donny's adolescent years were a mix of explosive growth spurts and a growing rebellious streak. He needed something to rebel against, and he found it in what his parents and many of his teachers didn't want: rugby. Almost overnight, he went from worshipping the sport the way most of the country did, to hating it with such a passion that he wound up in hospital for it at one point. (Admittedly, that was because he got angry at some "non-winger" fans who were mocking the early retirement of a crippled avian rugby player.) A large part of that was a growing awareness of how relatively frail his own body -- every "winger's" body -- was.

However, that same rebellious streak did lead to him discovering basketball; in need of something to occupy the time that rugby once had, a bored Donny found some students from the city playing on his school's basketball court. He had a go, and quickly fell in love with the sport, even with the way some players were quite physical. As quickly as he'd suddenly started hating a sport he used to love, he suddenly joined the school's basketball team.

By the time he finished high school, Donny had played on a state level multiple times and national level once, having developed a style of almost pure offence. While he was far from worthy of rough, physical play, he'd focused a lot on shooting, and could he shoot! From close, from mid-range, and from beyond the 3-point line, he could fling the ball into the hoop from almost anywhere on the floor (although he never got the space he needed to shoot close to the bucket, thanks to those pesky defenders). Having such large wing-arms gave him a high wing-assisted vertical, and his tail allowed him to combine that with tail-shooting -- as far as he could tell, a rare combination in professional play, even with long-tailed avian players. He was ready to take on the world!

Unfortunately he had also achieved average-at-best grades. Some universities actually were put off by the fact that he was such a "dumb jock". Nonetheless, he received an offer for a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Furry Sports (AIFS), and he accepted. And then he learned that no, he was not ready for the world; he needed to learn about things other than basketball first.

Now, admittedly, Donny had a slow start in his professional career. In particular, during his rookie year, his team had such a lengthy losing streak that his teammates started to call him "Wynner" -- a pun on his surname at the time, Wynn -- as a joke. Next thing they knew, everyone was calling him by that nickname. This was what led him to change his name to Domino White; partly because "there's a million Dominics out there", and partly to get the calls of "Wynner, Wynner!" to stop. Unfortunately it backfired; he had forgotten that cricket uniforms are often referred to as 'whites', so instead there were now jokes about how his teammates, opponents, etc. were 'wearing White'.

Donny persevered, though, and he ended up doing well enough to get a second contract with the team. It helped that during that time, he'd started to work on making sure his defensive skills weren't completely terrible (by pro standards). He was by and large still a specialist player, just slightly less specialised.

That said, he well and truly became known for his one-flap jumpshots, especially when using his tail, during the next four years of his career. He even developed a signature play he nicknamed the Whirlwind, an "awesome-looking but usually impractical" trick which involved simultaneously flapping his wings and jumping in such a way that he'd spin around in the air, and using the momentum to sling the ball with his tail. By his own admission it's a showboating move, but he has managed to get the ball into the hoop with it a small handful of times.

Also he became decent at grabbing rebounds, but that was overshadowed by his offensive skills.

By the time Donny's four-year contract was up, the team had reached the playoffs all four of those years, and everyone agreed that the goofy wyvern was a big reason for that. Everyone wanted him to stay, but he felt dissatisfied playing only at the national level, and started to look abroad for other opportunities. There were multiple suggestions, including the EFBL, but eventually he set his sights on the FBA. And that's where he's planning to head, to take his game to the next level. He does have backup plans in case he doesn't get drafted, but that's an 'if' and not necessarily a 'when'.

Personality-wise, it can sometimes be hard to believe that Donny is a 6-year veteran. He's a very energetic and excitable fellow who lives in the moment and generally focuses on the positive things in life; he's the sort of guy who'd love to be everyone's friend, or at least their teammate. Combined with his sense of humour, this has led to him getting into some bizarre escapades (he once tried to serenade a water tank in his pyjamas), and can make him come off as younger than he really is at best, or immature at worst. However, that positive attitude also results in him being eager to learn and eager to help, he's surprisingly insightful when it comes to other people, and his experience gives him a perspective that some other rookies in the pool may lack. (Also, he's just competitive enough to make sure his numbers stay up.) Perhaps most importantly, his love for basketball comes through in every game he plays. In the FBL, he was the heart of his team; perhaps he'll be the heart of his new team, too.