It's hard to envision that anything about the reigning champion Boston Celtics would be considered underrated these days, but NBA players at large believe one contributor to the 61-21 club this season deserves more shine.
In a poll of 136 anonymous NBA players (158 total players were polled for multiple categories, but only 136 weighed in on this category), Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic revealed that a Boston mainstay is considered fairly underrated.
Incredible work by our entire staff on this year's anonymous player poll.
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 22, 2025
More than one third of the NBA - 158 players 👀- weighed in on MVP, 'Face of the league,' overrated/underrated, coaching, officiating and other league issues, at @TheAthletic https://t.co/HABCALiV0F
Per The Athletic, 75 players got at least a vote for this category. The top four honorees on the list received 3 percent or more of votes.
All-Star Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham, who appears likely to earn All-NBA honors this season, was the top vote recipient, with 8.8 percent of votes. Two-time All-Defensive guard Derrick White, meanwhile, earned 7.4 percent of player votes, the second-best total. Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Norman Powell, who was seen as a fringe All-Star this season, notched 4.4 percent of player votes. Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves earned 3.7 percent of votes.
"The Celtics’ Derrick White, who tied Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams for the 'Underrated' win last year, is the only player in the 2024 top four to maintain that sort of standing here," Amick and Robbins write.
White has had a legitimate case to be named an All-Star for each of the past two seasons. He's a critical two-way contributor, probably the fourth-best player on the Celtics — but the third-best Boston player who is consistently available, given center Kristaps Porzingis' health issues.
"Given that his summer included an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal with Team USA, it makes sense that he’s considered less underrated than before (ditto for Williams, who was an All-Star for the first time this season and dropped to seventh)," The Athletic piece continues.
During his first playoff game this season against the Orlando Magic, a 103-86 Celtics victory on Sunday, White led all Boston scorers with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field (7-of-12 from distance) and 3-of-3 shooting from the foul line, grabbed four rebounds, dished out two dimes, blocked a pair of shots and swiped a steal.
Pockets full of threes 👌🏽 pic.twitter.com/J2yTIJuYAX
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 22, 2025
Last year, en route to the Celtics' 18th championship (but his first), the 30-year-old Colorado product posted averages of 16.7 points on .452/.404/.921 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals a night in 35.6 minutes. If he records those kinds of hyperefficient stats again, he may be in line for a third consecutive appearance on next year's list.
