Late in the fourth quarter of the Celtics' 134-101 rout of the San Antonio Spurs, a group of Celtics fans started a chant.
“White’s an All-Star!” the fans bellowed from San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center. “White’s an All-Star!”
The ever-so-humble Derrick White sat with his arms crossed, slouched in his seat with a smile as his teammates clapped along to the chant.
It was a full-circle moment for the 29-year-old, who was drafted by the Spurs with the 29th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft – where he spent the first four and a half seasons of his career before being traded to Boston as part of a masterclass deal by Brad Stevens in exchange for Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson, and a first-round pick.
As the chants rained down from the building in which White jumpstarted his NBA career, it offered White and his former head coach Gregg Popovich a unique perspective and a chance to reflect on how far the All-Defensive guard has come.
"I just couldn't be more proud of a player," Popovich said before the game. "When he first came [to San Antonio], I don't think he believed he belonged in the NBA. And to watch him develop through the years here, starting with the G-League and playing with us and then starting for us, and then taking more steps in Boston, has just been a thrill to watch.”
The Colorado product is having the best season of his eight-year career. White is averaging a career-high 17.0 points per game on a career-best 49.1% shooting from the field and 41.6% from three-point range. To go along with his scoring, White is averaging 5.3 assists per contest, another career-high, and 3.9 boards – which, you guessed it, is another career-high. His 153 assists this season lead the Celtics.
The 6-foot-4 guard also provides a menacing presence on the defensive end, averaging a steal and a block per game. A Second-Team All-Defensive selection a season ago, White has totaled a whopping 37 blocks this season – the most by any guard. He is the only guard with at least 30 blocks on the season.
White has emerged as one of the most elite two-way players in the league, as he is thriving in his role as the Celtics’ full-time starting point guard – something that wouldn’t be possible without the guidance of his former head coach.
“He just kept pushing me. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” White said when reflecting on his time with the five-time champ Popovich. “I used to be in the mailroom, and he’d walk in and just say ‘You belong’ and walk out. Just little things like that are cool to hear from the greatest coach of all time.”
White’s journey to the NBA wasn’t necessarily easy. Coming out of high school, he wasn’t a highly touted prospect. The Colorado native had no Division I scholarship offers. His only college offers were from a junior college in Wyoming and a preferred walk-on, partial scholarship to Division II school.
His college career started at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs where he was supposed to be a redshirt freshman. However, due to injuries, head coach Jeff Culver opted not to redshirt White, who went on to be named the 2013 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.
After averaging 24.1 points on 50.8% shooting and 4.7 assists per game in his two seasons with the UCCS Mountain Lions, becoming the school’s all-time leader in points and assists, and averaging nearly a block and a steal per game, the Division I Colorado Buffaloes came calling for his services.
White transferred to the University of Colorado as a senior and started 32 of the team’s 34 games, leading the Buffaloes in points (615), assists (148), steals (42), and blocks (49) – en route to being named First-Team All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.
As a result, he was drafted by Popovich and the Spurs. Upon arriving in San Antonio, White allowed self-doubt to creep in, and it was Popovich who gave the 23-year-old the boost of confidence he needed
“He had a natural understanding of the game, IQ-wise, and I don’t think he knew that about himself,” Popovich recalled. “He’s an innately good passer, for instance. And you could see it immediately, but he didn’t think of himself that way. He was too humble, I guess, to start out. Now he’s figured it out.”
It’s fitting that White’s 17-point, five-assist night in San Antonio capped off arguably the best stretch of his career. The 6-year vet finished the month of December averaging 20.3 points per game on 50.8% shooting from the field and 43.5% from deep. White also dished out a team-best 5.4 assists, recorded 1.4 steals (another team-best), and 1.8 blocks over that span.
White finished a +157 in December, the fourth-highest plus-minus in the league over that span, trailing just Tyrese Maxey, Nikola Jokic, and Michael Porter Jr.
As a team, the Celtics finished an NBA-best 12-2 in December, one of just seven teams to eclipse double-digit wins. White was a big factor in that with his stellar play, particularly in the clutch.
"He's one of the greatest guys ever and his confidence has just exploded,” Popovich said. “It's been a process. He's been in the league six, seven years? I'm not sure anymore, but he's a great story. Starting out at the bottom and believing in himself and doing the work necessary to get where he is now. So, just thrilled for him.”
As White continues to write his story, the campaign to get him on the All-Star team is rapidly gaining momentum. Yet, in typical D-White fashion, he’s not focused on that. Instead, he’s thankful for the situation he currently finds himself in.
“I’m just thankful and grateful,” White said. “I just try to go out there and help us win. If I were to make the All-Star game, it’s because of how much we are winning and the type of team we have. I’m just thankful to be a part of this team, this organization, and the culture we’re building here. Me making it or not making it doesn’t change the fact that I’m just thankful to be here.”
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