Upon his arrival, when Nikola Vucevic came from the Chicago Bulls' trade to join the Boston Celtics, the veteran center wanted to take his No. 9 with him, which belongs to Celtics' Derrick White. Vucevic reached out to White via text, offering the 2024 champion guard a whopping $5 million.
White declined, but admits that if Vucevic had doubled the initial $5 million offer, he'd agreed to give up his No. 9, he said, per the White Noise Podcast.
“$5 million's not enough. If he said $10 [million], yeah — that's fine,” White said. “[No.] 9 is my favorite number. When I see people wearing number 9 at the Garden, and it's a Nike jersey, I'm like oh, I know that's mine. If there was a special reason he wanted to be [No.] 9, maybe I would consider it… I'm willing to switch for $10 million.”
Nikola Vucevic settled for No. 4 instead of Derrick White's No. 9 with the Celtics. Vucevic also recorded a double-double (12 rebounds, 11 points) with four assists, and two steals in a 98-96 win against the Miami Heat in his Celtics debut.
Nikola Vucevic receives a standing ovation in Celtics debut
Celtics center Nikola Vucevic received a stading ovation at TD Garden. In his first game with the Celtics, Vucevic came off the bench to fans on their feet welcoming him to his new home.
Nikola Vucevic gets a huge ovation from the TD Garden crowd as he checks into the game for the first time as a Celtic 🍀
(via @danield1214) pic.twitter.com/c3eHpYk1BI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 7, 2026
Vucevic followed up his double-double performance with another (19 points, 11 rebounds) against his former team, the Bulls. The Celtics cruised to a 124-105 victory before the All-Star break. Vucevic went 7-for-12, including 4-for-5 from deep, three assists, two blocks, and one steal.
The Celtics will face the Warriors on Thursday.
