The Boston Celtics gained a lot from trading for Derrick White. He spent five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs before joining Boston’s championship team. In the 2021-22 season, White was traded to the Celtics in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick (Blake Wesley), and the rights to swap 2028 first-round picks.
The transition from playing for the Spurs to the Celtics was different. The team wasn’t competitive, and there wasn’t much hope that San Antonio would qualify for the playoffs at the moment. Boston, on the other hand, was a contender for the NBA title and believed White would be a great addition to the team.
White’s trade ultimately paid off, as he went on to play in the NBA Finals a few months later. It was a good sign for the Celtics, as it led them to the right track.
In his first game with the Celtics, Derrick White revealed that he had no idea what he was doing, especially on offense. He also said that he was trying to get out of the way and stay in the corners to spread the defense.
White also revealed in the first episode of his podcast, “White Noise with Derrick White,” that he turned to Will Hardy multiple times during the game. At that time, he was an assistant coach under Ime Udoka and had worked with the Spurs.
“The entire time during that game, I don’t know what we’re doing,” White said. “So, they’d call a play and I would just look at Will Hardy and he’d be like, yelling what it was in San Antonio, where I’m supposed to be at.
“I had no idea what I was doing… I was just hooping off vibes.”
Derrick White had NO CLUE what was going on in his first game with the Celtics 😂 pic.twitter.com/iiefqNbpJt— Kicks (@kicks) July 29, 2025
“I told someone, I was like, ‘I don’t know, I was just hooping off vibes.’ I didn’t really know what was going on but I was just out there. I was trying to stay in the corner so I was out of the way. But sometimes, I was in actions.”
He ended up with 15 points and six rebounds, helping the Boston Celtics with a 108-102 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Derrick White revealed that he drank when he found out that he was traded to the Boston Celtics
In the first episode of his podcast, Derrick White revealed that he had a lot to drink when he found out that he was traded. While he was enjoying his time with his friends, he found out that he had an hour and a half before he could get to his flight to Boston.
“At this point, I’m lit. But now, I’m trying to get to the airport, barely make my flight.”
Gregg Popovich: “Hey, uh… we traded you.”
Derrick: “To where?”
Pop: “Don’t worry, we didn’t f*ck you, we’re sending you to Boston.”
Derrick White describes his exchange with Coach Popovich the night he got traded 😂 pic.twitter.com/KYeLS8miC2— Kicks (@kicks) July 28, 2025
It happened so quickly for White since he had to be with the team the following day, which explains his revelation in his first game with the team.
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