Celtics guard Derrick White has enjoyed tremendous success since arriving in Boston before the NBA trade deadline in 2022, and after winning his first championship last month, he's already looking forward to defending that title during the upcoming season.
White has already reached the NBA Finals twice, won one championship, and been selected to the All-Defensive second team twice in his brief Celtics tenure.
The 2023-24 team was unique, though. Not only did they win the franchise's record-setting 18th title, the vibes and chemistry of the group were fantastic. It made playing extra fun.
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"It was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, a lot of jokes, just everybody getting along," White told Chris Forsberg on NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Talk Podcast.
"I feel like we didn't have any issues at any point, and then on the court, you can see how well we played and just how unselfish it was every time and everybody just wanted the next person to succeed. And so anytime you're on a team like that it's special, I'm just looking forward to getting back. I know this season just ended, but I'm looking forward to another ride."
🔊 Celtics Talk: Derrick White on his contract extension, bringing back core group and that viral Celtics hat | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
White will be in Boston long term after signing a four-year, $125.9 million extension with the Celtics last week. The deal begins in the 2025-26 campaign. The extension came together pretty quickly, and White is thankful for that.
"Like I said the whole time -- I loved it in Boston and I was hopeful and I'm very thankful that it all happened pretty quickly and I don't have to answer questions about it all (next) season," White said. "It was pretty easy. I just wanted to be there and they wanted me there. So it worked out."
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Not only did White sign an extension, so did Jayson Tatum. The C's superstar signed the richest contract in league history -- a five-year supermax deal worth $315 million.
If you look at the 11 players who played the most minutes per game for the Celtics last season, all 11 are coming back for the title defense. It's rare to see a team win a championship and bring back their top 10 or 11 players.
But clearly the Celtics know they have a great group that works well together on and off the court. If you can keep that going another year, it's definitely worth doing.
"It's exciting," White said when asked about most of the team coming back. "I think everybody knows just how much we got along and just enjoyed playing with each other. So I think it's just going to be a lot of fun."
Also in this episode:
- Derrick Talks about his viral Celtics hat moment
- Where Derrick White would take the Larry O'Brien Trophy if he had it for a day
- Derrick details 'special' experience bringing Dad to Fenway Park and championship parade
- 1-on-1 with Payton Pritchard at Team USA practice in Las Vegas
- Interaction with Jayson Tatum at Team USA practice