Years removed from the trade, Derrick White peeled back the curtain on his thoughts during his first outing with the Boston Celtics.
Midway through the 2022 season, Derrick White found himself traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Boston Celtics. Years removed from the major change, the veteran forward reflected on his first performance for the iconic franchise.
During the first episode of his new White Noise podcast, White touched on what was going through his head during his first game with the Celtics. Seeing that he had minimal time to prepare, he did what he could to pick things up on the fly in hopes of not being completely lost on the floor.
"The entire time during that game, I got no idea what we're doing," White said. "They'd call a play and I'd just look at Will Hardy and he'd be like yelling like what it was in San Antonio...Like I told someone, I don't know I'm just hooping off vibes."
“I had no idea what I was doing… I was just hooping off vibes.”
— Kicks (@kicks) July 29, 2025
Derrick White had NO CLUE what was going on in his first game with the Celtics 😂 pic.twitter.com/iiefqNbpJt
Despite not knowing what was going on most of the time, White still managed to put together a strong debut for Boston. In a win over the Denver Nuggets, he notched 15 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
When White first arrived in Boston, he was viewed as a three-and-D wing with a lot of potential. Since then, he's blossomed into one of the league's top role players. With his high-level two-way play, White has established himself as a core piece for the Celtics,
Coming off a career year last season, White has a chance to see his production grow even more in 2026. With Jayson Tatum set to miss extended time, Boston has a large void to fill. This opens the door for a player like White to show they can elevate their game even more in an effort to keep the Celtics competitive.
Category: Basketball
