On a cool January night in Houston, three Minnesota Timberwolves strolled into Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen the eve of an important game against the Rockets.

It had become something of a ritual for Jaden McDaniels, Donte DiVincenzo and player development coach James “Flight” White to break bread on the road. It was their way of unplugging from the daily grind of the season, talking about anything but basketball and sharing a few laughs to lighten the load. White’s family lives in Houston, and he brought his two children along this time, elevating the significance of the evening.

The symbolism was unmistakable. After months of working together and countless late-night hours in the gym, White was welcoming McDaniels and DiVincenzo into his family.

“I ended up paying for that meal,” White cracked. “But other than that, it was a good meal, and they hung out with me.”

Their connection has become a quietly crucial part of the Timberwolves’ success this season. DiVincenzo and McDaniels credit White with helping them both deliver standout seasons. DiVincenzo started every game he played for just the second time in his eight-year career, serving as the most constant source of kinetic energy on the roster. In his sixth season, McDaniels displayed more offensive versatility and potential than he ever has before to become one of the league’s better two-way players.

Both had their fingerprints all over Minnesota’s Game 2 win over the Denver Nuggets that evened their playoff series at one game apiece. McDaniels scored 14 points and hounded Jamal Murray after Murray torched the Wolves in Game 1. DiVincenzo had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists and nailed a dagger 3-pointer to ice the game for Minnesota.

White was there through it all, seated behind the Timberwolves bench, pulling them aside during timeouts and offering them reminders during the game when they were grabbing a rest.

“To have somebody like that in your corner that I can call anytime of the day to pick his brain on life stuff, basketball stuff, whatever or just shoot the s— with him,” DiVincenzo said of White. “That’s the stuff that we need. When things are hard, you have certain people you can lean on, and he’s definitely one of them.”

Like most teams, Wolves divide players among specific coaches for individual and small group work. Head coach Chris Finch handpicked White to work with DiVincenzo and McDaniels because he believed their personalities and temperaments would mesh well. He was right.

White’s perspective as a former player and his positive nature was exactly what two of the team’s more intense competitors needed. White leaned on experiences from his playing days to build a bridge with DiVincenzo and McDaniels, forming trust through constant communication and sweat equity. DiVincenzo and McDaniels have been known to stew on the negativity that can mount during a long season. White’s more positive persona has offered them a needed balance.

“Both from being a player for so many years and just understanding how stressful the game is sometimes, how much pressure you put on yourself,” White said, “it’s important to understand that you still play a kid’s game, and you’re blessed.”

On the surface, White’s background as a high-flying dunk artist who played 67 career NBA games would seem to be an odd fit with a 6-foot-10 perimeter defender like McDaniels and a wiry shooter and glue-guy like DiVincenzo. But the trio has found deeper links rooted in the way they think about the game and the world and what drives them to keep going when the going gets tough.

“He’s super understanding. He played in the NBA, so he knows the ins and outs,” McDaniels said. “Days you have bad games, he always encourages you to get in the gym. He wants you to put the work in. It’s cool.”

The nickname isn’t an accident. During his playing days, White could fly.

White grew up playing on the blacktops in the Washington, D.C.-Virginia area, racing friends to see who would be the first one to dunk. In the summer of his eighth-grade season, White became one of the first in his group to throw one down. Word quickly started to spread about the wiry boy with springs in his calves.

“Anybody who could dunk, that’s all you did,” he said. “After you start hooping, you’re trying to dunk for the next two hours when you’re done playing. So, that was a big deal. It was like the biggest thing in the neighborhood that I could dunk.”

White’s team at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia started to make waves when he was a sophomore. That’s when a local sportswriter bestowed the nickname “Flight” on him after watching him skywalk through the state tournament.

“It caught on after that,” he said.

The 43-year-old came of age before videos were ubiquitous, but he would have fit right in with a modern society that thirsts for highlights on social media. He specialized in dunks from the free-throw line, soaring through the air and finishing with a ferocity that demanded attention from the crowd.

He finished second to David Lee at the 2001 McDonald’s All-America dunk contest. Twenty-five years later, White still has a beef with the judges.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say I lost,” White said with a smile. “At least five times a year, somebody comes up to me and says, ‘Hey man, they robbed you in that dunk contest.’”

White spent his first season in college at Florida before transferring to Cincinnati, where he cemented his reputation as a hyper-athletic scorer for the Bearcats. The Portland Trail Blazers selected him with the 31st overall pick at the top of the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft, then immediately traded him to the Indiana Pacers.

White was Pacers coach Rick Carlisle’s last cut out of training camp, a decision that the coach called “painful” enough for him to remember when he was asked about it two decades later.

“He’s one of the best dunkers I ever saw,” Carlisle said. “He had skill, too. He could shoot.”

White played six games for the San Antonio Spurs that season, another four games for Houston in 2008-09 and had his longest NBA stretch with 57 games for the New York Knicks in 2012-13. He also played in Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Russia and Iran and finished his competitive career with a stint in the Big 3, Ice Cube’s 3 on 3 league, in 2017.

As he was trying to carve out a career for himself, White spent the 2009 training camp with the Denver Nuggets. Current Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was a player development coach for the Nuggets at the time and worked closely with White to help change his shooting mechanics and grow his game. That is where the seeds were planted for White’s transition to coaching. He remembers the feeling that Mosley gave him and wanted to help unlock other facets of the game for younger players.

“I just want to be that for somebody,” White said. “It could just be one person. Stories like that and building those relationships with guys and helping them reach their goals is really nice.”

White coached for two seasons in TBL, a developmental league, leading a team owned by former NBA player Steve Francis. Timberwolves vice president of player personnel Joe Connelly hired White to join the staff of their G League affiliate in Iowa, and he quickly impressed Finch with his ability to connect with players.

“I think he’s got incredible coaching potential,” Finch said. “He puts the work in. He’s kind of about the life in the gym.”

Much like he did as a player, White had to fight a stigma in his early days as a coach. His jaw-dropping dunking feats led some to believe that athleticism was his only attribute.

“It’s always been a thing for me, like even when I’m coming up, like coming up in high school and college, everybody knows you as a dunker. You always want to show people that’s not what I’m known for,” White said. “I play the game at a high level. I know the game. I have a great mind for the game so I always want to show that.”

Finch saw his work ethic in Iowa and his willingness to shuttle back and forth between Des Moines and the Twin Cities to get extra sessions with players. When White joined the Wolves staff last season, he worked with Nickeil Alexander-Walker, one of the team’s deep thinkers. Alexander-Walker had a tendency to get in his head when his shot wasn’t falling. White’s positive approach helped him stay on an even keel, solidifying a spot in the rotation for a Western Conference finalist.

The improvement put Alexander-Walker on course for a four-year, $62 million contract from the Atlanta Hawks, where he has continued his development into a starter this season. Finch was impressed with how White helped NAW manage the ups and the downs of the season, noticing a talent for messaging and motivation.

After James White’s playing career ended in 2017, he found a new calling in the NBA’s coaching world. (Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Timberwolves)

“I think he’s got this unique ability to connect with the player that kind of overthinks and helps him reach his full potential,” Finch said.

This season, Finch saw an opportunity for White to help McDaniels and DiVincenzo take the next step. Both are prideful players who believed they had more to show in their games. Both are ultra competitive and can take their work home with them when things aren’t going well.

White has helped take some of the pressure off of their shoulders, keeping them focused on the improvements they have made year over year.

“When everything gets too serious for me and I start honing in on the mistakes and stuff, he’ll make a joke about me missing six or seven in a row, but then he’ll address all the stuff I am doing,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s reassuring for me staying at it.”

DiVincenzo has always been a bit of a streaky shooter, but his work with White is helping him navigate the ups and the downs with less volatility. His 12.5 points per game is the second-best average of his career and he finished fifth in the league in 3-pointers made.  He has been one of the team’s best players through the first two games of this playoff series with Denver.

“He’s a winning player,” Finch said. “He’s won everywhere he’s ever been. … We need that, and that’s what we love about him. He’s not afraid of these moments and he puts everything into it. He really benefits when the team is playing the right way.”

McDaniels has always been known as a defense-first player. But this season, he has posted career-highs in scoring (14.8), assists (2.7) and 3-point shooting (41.2), while showing an elevated ability to create his own shot off-the-dribble, all while maintaining his role as the team’s best perimeter defender. He credits White’s tutelage and constant encouragement for the growth in his game.

“He just sees the game different,” McDaniels said. “He just knows how each of us want to play. I’m taller than most people, so he is always working with me in the post and being confident in my shot because no one is really going to block me. He’s just got a good feel.”

White uses dinners like the one in Houston as a way to show players that he is invested in them on a deeper level than just what they can bring on the court. Each time they gather for a meal, it is a way for White to take another step forward in that relationship. Each step they take makes it easier for him to get them to buy into what he needs from them as players as well.

“I learned this about coaching,” White said, “if somebody really believes that you care about them, they’ll listen to you more because they know that you are really tapped into wanting them to succeed.”

White is still very young in the coaching game, but he hopes to one day become a head coach. It starts with what he has done in Minnesota, getting the most out of players like Alexander-Walker, DiVincenzo and McDaniels.

“I’m taking it one day at a time, but I think Finchy’s done a great job of putting me on a path to do that. He gives me a lot of responsibility every year to give me a little bit more,” he said.

That conversation is for another day. For now, White, McDaniels and DiVincenzo are fixated on getting the Timberwolves through to the next round. And judging by how tense and competitive the first two games against the Nuggets have been, there may be some more dinners ahead as they endure another grudge match with their biggest rivals.