Former Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball star Derrick White has continued building quite a reputation as one of the NBA’s best defensive guards in his seventh season. But more importantly, he’s also become one of the league’s most underrated players.
The 29-year-old Boston Celtics guard received league-wide recognition for his defensive efforts Tuesday morning, however, earning his second-straight NBA All-Defensive second-team nod. White averaged career-highs in steals (1.0) and blocks (1.2) per game. He finished eighth in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year voting and has swatted the most shots of any guard over the past three seasons with 221 blocks.
Despite the honors, the former Buff is more focused on his third-straight Eastern Conference finals appearance since being traded to the Celtics from the San Antonio Spurs in 2021. White has been instrumental for Boston since putting on a green and white jersey, most recently helping the Celtics to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this past year as their starting two-guard.
Alongside the Colorado native’s lockdown defense, his offensive game has steadily improved. White caught fire in the Celtics’ first 10 games of the playoffs, averaging 18.2 points a night while shooting 48.5% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. His best performance came in Game 4 of the first round when he scored a game-high and playoff career-best 38 points with eight 3-point makes in a win over the Miami Heat.
While White and the Celtics had the chance to play former Buff Alec Burks and the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals, top-seeded Boston will instead face off against the No. 6 seed Indiana Pacers in hopes of returning to their first NBA Finals since 2022.
well deserved đź‘Ź https://t.co/nX2ChxQxfQ
— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) May 21, 2024
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