It's been an offseason of change for the Boston Celtics, who traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, among multiple other moves, in an attempt to clear their salary cap situation. This, combined with Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury, will likely put more pressure on players like Derrick White to produce even more going into next season.
Recently, White took to his own White Noise Podcast w/ Derrick White to speak on his time around Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant during the Olympics last year, and one things he wishes he'd been able to do against Durant in his career.
“Olympic KD is so cold. Before, I told people — imagine running as fast as you can, jumping as high as you can, reaching as high as possible, and not being close to the ball. That’s every KD jumper. I’ve always wanted to block his shot — never have,” said White.
White also spoke on some advice that the future Hall of Famer had for him during the Olympics.
“He’s a hooper 24/7. First thing he asked me was why I wasn’t practicing,” said White. “I said they’re taking me slow. He’s like, you’re a hooper — just go hoop. Simple. He loves the game. There’s nothing you can do when he’s in that mode.”
An unexpected friendship
White was one of several Celtics players who collectively helped shut down Kevin Durant during the playoff series between Boston and Durant's Brooklyn Nets back in 2022. That was arguably the worst four-game stretch of Durant's career, as the Celtics won that series in a clean sweep and went on to make the NBA Finals that year.
White has since established himself as the ideal prototype role player that every NBA team is currently looking for, and it will be interesting to see how much his minutes will increase this year with the Celtics in the wake of the trades and the Tatum injury.
It's also possible that head coach Joe Mazzulla looks to conserve veterans like White and Jaylen Brown as much as possible this season so that Boston can hit the ground running once Tatum returns in 2026-27.
