Derrick White is having an amazing summer, winning the 2024 NBA Championship and representing Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, bringing home a Gold medal. He had a rough fan encounter earlier this month when fans at a Colorado football game tried attacking him. White opened up on the viral clip to reporters at Celtics’ media day, calling the situation ‘unfortunate.’
“Obviously, the Colorado situation is unfortunate, I never thought I’d be in that situation, honestly. I didn’t actually get hit. He just hit my hat off. But I shouldn’t have been there, and it’s unfortunate. Just moving on.”
The incident took place at a college football game between rivals University of Colorado and Colorado State University. The fans that tried attacking White were seen wearing Colorado State jerseys, who lost the rivalry game 31-26. The fan likely didn’t recognize White and wanted to pick a fight with a Colorado fan, with the Boston Celtics star wearing a Colorado hat that was knocked off his head.
No action has been taken on the incident, with White moving on and looking ahead to the 2024-25 NBA season. He averaged 15.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists last season, being named to the All-Defense Second Team and winning a championship.
The 30-year-old also received a new four-year, $125.9 million contract extension contract this summer, locking him in to remain on the Boston Celtics for the foreseeable future.
Derrick White: The NBA’s Most Underrated Player
The plaudits for White have become more widespread after his impact on the Celtics was clear to everyone. He’s one of the best defensive guards in the NBA, partnered up with arguably the best defensive guard of the last 10 years in Jrue Holiday.
White’s expanded offensive arsenal makes him the perfect third option behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, though his focus is to lock up as many opponents as he can.
It’s hard to call him underrated after the season he just had, but the focus of their victory has still primarily been on Tatum and Brown, though White was easily the third-best player for the Celtics over the Playoff run.
White received All-Star buzz last season before winning a title and a Gold medal, being asked to replace Kawhi Leonard on Team USA ahead of his Finals MVP teammate Jaylen Brown. Everyone in the NBA can see the value White brings with solid production and the intangibles every team wants their role-players to have.
White can adequately defend against forwards who are bigger while often bullying guards of his size or smaller.
He was a nightmare matchup for Kyrie Irving in the NBA Finals one-on-one and was the one player the Dallas Mavericks tried to ensure didn’t switch onto Luka Doncic throughout their rotations. White was blocking the likes of 7’1″ center Dereck Lively at the rim, so what he brings to the Celtics can’t be quantified.
The Celtics might have a few worries about their roster going forward, but the one thing they don’t need to worry about is Derrick White and whether he’ll leave it all on the court to win more games for the franchise.
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