Derrick White had just finished detailing his key late-game block on Cade Cunningham and teammate Jayson Tatum was giving him some grief when informed that White hadn’t blocked a shot the previous game.
White fessed up that he actually hadn’t had a swat in either of Boston’s first two games of the 2024-25 season and said he was playing catch-up in Detroit.
“One [block] per game,” said White. “That’s the rule.”
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That’s been the rule since White got dispatched to the Austin Spurs of the G-League early in his second NBA season. There, White befriended 6-foot-10 center Amira Brimah and playfully told him that they shared a defensive skill set.
“Amida Brimah is my guy. He’s a shot blocker,” said White. “He’s known as a shot blocker. And so I went to the G-League and I was like, ‘You know, I’m a shot-blocker, too. You’re not the only one.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, if you want to be a shot-blocker, you got to get one per game. And so, ever since then … one per game.”
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True to his word, White blocked seven shots over four G-League appearances in Austin that season. He’s basically hovered around 1.0 block per 36 minutes throughout his entire NBA career, but his totals have really surged in Boston. Over the past 2-plus seasons, White has blocked 166 shots in 158 games (1.1 blocks per game, for those scoring at home). You can add in 43 blocks over 39 postseason games in that span (1.1, again).
If you’re following along on social media, you’ll probably see White’s father, Richard, post a, "We got one!" GIF on Twitter/X each time White registers his nightly swat.
The Celtics have had a lot of “Hang in it in the Louvre,” moments over the past couple seasons, and White’s blocks might deserve their own exhibit. Just look at this snapshot from the other night:
What a perfectly-timed photo (Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images) pic.twitter.com/iA6XN7JCjC
— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) October 27, 2024
A cutting Cunningham had a step on defender Jrue Holiday as he tried to deliver a game-tying slam with under a minute to play. White rushed over with help and met the 6-foot-6 Cunningham at the rim.
“He had dunked on me earlier in the game so I felt like I had to get some revenge,” said White.
WHAT A BLOCK FROM DERRICK WHITE ‼️🚫 pic.twitter.com/Hoy0Rvx2oS
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 27, 2024
White, who doesn’t always display the most emotion on the court, appeared to turn to the bench and scream twice, “I got that [expletive] one." Tatum playfully asked White to repeat what he said at the interview podium and White kept it PG.
Back on Media Day, we showed White an image of him as a freshman in high school. He estimates he was just over 5 feet and weighed 90 pounds. How exactly did that player, we wondered, morph into the best shot-blocking guard in the NBA?
A growth spurt to 6-foot-4 didn’t hurt. And he certainly found motivation from that connection with Brimah in the G-League. But White was quick to clarify that the evolution to shot blocker started much earlier.
"I blocked shots in college,” asserted White, who swatted 49 shots in 34 games during his lone season at Colorado. “I didn’t block a lot of shots in high school, as you can tell. I did take a lot of charges back then.”
Looking at the image of his tiny freshman self, White does offer some playful bravado.
“As you can see, I didn't eat a whole lot. And I was small. But look at that stance,” said White. "I was trying my best out there. The form was ready.”
White said he grew to about 5-foot-7 and 100 pounds by his sophomore year ("Triple digits -- it was a pretty big moment") then sprouted to 6-foot-2 as a high school senior. He grew another couple inches by his first season of Division 2 ball at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
He still looks impossibly young in his shot on the UCCS website, but his shot-blocking stats check out: 110 blocks in 61 games. That's almost two per game and includes a seven-swat night against Adams State in 2015.
Even as the Celtics started the season with consecutive wins, it was jarring that White hadn’t registered a block in those games. He made sure to get back on track in Detroit.
One block per game. That’s the rule.