The Boston Celtics steamrolled their way to the NBA finals after demolishing the best the east has to offer. Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Miami Heat all crumbled at the feet of the Celtics who will now take on a reviving dynasty. Boston is living many storylines but none greater than that of Derrick White.
Boston’s biggest strength this season has been their defense and bench depth. They have the 2nd best defensive efficiency rating in the league with 2 all-NBA defensive players. They also house 8 players that can give them double-digit production on any given night. Their excellent front office put a team together that is currently 4 wins away from their 18th NBA title of all time.
Derrick White’s NBA career so far
Derrick White was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs back in the 2017-18 NBA season. He was drafted near the end of the 1st round as the 29th pick. However, this was right after the Spurs won 61 games. But they lost to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals. White, being a first-round pick on a team full of contenders was not guaranteed any playtime and hence played just 17 games in his rookie season and averaged just 3.
But the Spurs started to decline. Kawhi Leonard left and Manu and Parker retired. This gave White a chance to become a better player and began to give 10-15 points on any given night. He averaged in double digits for 5 straight seasons and became an attractive commodity for the Celtics. Boston became even deeper as a team and White could be thanked for it.
From D-2 to the NBA, Derrick White came a long way
But if you hear how Derrick White got to the NBA finals, that makes him a much bigger hero. Back in 2011-12 when White was still in high school, he was ranked as the 653 best players in the country. He never got even a sniff of a D-1 scholarship at the time and was forced to play at a D-II level. On the D-II level, he looked like a man amongst boys. He averaged 25.8 points per game and was 2nd best in the country.
Derrick White had ZERO D-I scholarship offers out of HS.
▪Went from scout team to All-American at the D-II level
▪Transferred and played one season at Colorado (D-I)
▪Used his first NBA contract to pay off student loansNow, he’ll be playing in the NBA Finals 👏 pic.twitter.com/Lwjco4Yku9
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 2, 2022
His great play help him get transferred to Colorado, a D-I team. There he ended the year averaging 18 points per game in 34 games played. His dream of making the NBA came true shortly after. And now he could be on the way to fulfilling another dream, of winning the NBA finals.