The Boston Celtics’ Derrick White, a guard on the team, recently signed a contract extension in early July.
Expressing his thoughts, Brad Stevens, the President of Basketball Operations, stated, “Since Derrick joined us in the spring of 2021, he has smoothly integrated into the Boston community. His presence at our facility brings daily joy and selflessness. He is committed to improving his skills, a quality he has consistently shown throughout his career. More importantly, he values building genuine relationships and maintaining the ethos of fair competition. We feel fortunate to have Derrick as a member of the Celtic family and are thrilled that he will continue with us for the foreseeable future.”
Since joining the team in February 2022, White has played in 181 games (starting 147) for the Celtics. He averages 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game, with an average playing time of 29.9 minutes. During the 2023-24 regular season, White played in all 73 games as a starter, becoming only the second player in Celtic history to maintain averages of at least 15.0 points, 5.0 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals in a single season, a feat previously achieved by Larry Bird in 1984-85 and 1990-91.
In the Celtics’ journey to the 2024 NBA Championship, the two-time All-Defensive team candidate White boasted impressive stats of 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.2 blocks across 19 playoff games. White holds a unique record in NBA history as the only player to score over 300 points, tally 70 assists, and commit 16 turnovers or fewer in a single playoff run. Furthermore, the 6-4 guard recorded the fifth-highest number of blocks in the 2024 postseason (23) and joined an exclusive club of only four NBA guards since 1971 to achieve over 20 blocks in multiple playoff seasons, alongside Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, and Dennis Johnson.
A 2017 NBA Draft selection from the University of Colorado, White earned All-Pac-12 Conference First Team honors in 2017 and was recognized for his defensive prowess during his senior year.
Image Source: Derrick White @ Instagram
