All-star forward Wendell White made a dynamic debut for the Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix on Oct. 6 in the team's bj-league season-opening game against the Tokyo Apache. He scored 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out three assists, collected three steals and blocked one shot.

It was a sign of things to come.

White played in all 52 games and helped the Phoenix (41-11) capture the Eastern Conference title. He is the 2009-10 regular-season MVP, the league announced on Wednesday.

A former UNLV player, White averaged 22.2 points per game (No. 3 in the league), 3.9 assists (seventh), 2.0 steals (sixth), 0.9 dunks (seventh) and played 1,726 minutes (fifth).