Whatever it takes for as long as it takes.
The Boston Celtics adopted this mantra for the playoffs. Whether in Game 3 of the NBA Finals they are trailing by 13 points in the opening 12 minutes or their 21-point lead is unraveling in the fourth quarter, whatever it takes for as long as it takes, and nobody embodies that mantra better than Derrick White.
A member of Team USA’s 2019 FIBA World Cup roster, White joined the Celtics from the San Antonio Spurs. He was well-versed in selfless basketball. He also arrived in Boston in February 2022 in a state of flux, midway through this core’s initial run to the NBA Finals, his wife pregnant with their first-born son.
“I was actually with him in Miami the day Hendrix was born,” says White’s trainer, Marcus Mason, recalling the morning of Game 2 of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals. “I’ll never forget just how nervous he was. He wasn’t nervous about playing basketball. I know the difference. He was nervous about being a dad.”
Forgive White if he was finding his footing, unwilling to step on Jayson Tatum’s and Jaylen Brown’s toes. The growth of White over the past two seasons has coincided with the growth of a champion in Boston.
“The comfort level and opportunity has increased,” adds Derrick’s father, Richard White. “Tatum and Brown have always said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to keep shooting. We’re at our best when you’re out there being aggressive.’ When he first got to the team, he was kind of starstruck. All of a sudden, we’re playing games into May and June, which he didn’t do in San Antonio. Expectations in Boston are high. It’s championship or bust. They started to go on a run before he got traded, but after he got there they really exploded. He didn’t think he was a major part of it. He was just trying to stay out of the way and not screw it up.”
Derrick White dribbles up the court during Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals. (Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
So Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla simplified the demands on White.
“I mean, we just try to make the right basketball play every time down the court,” White says.
The right basketball play might be…
..
