Celtics’ Derrick White Draws Praise From Spurs’ Gregg Popovich

BOSTON — Derrick White has been arguably the third most important member of the Boston Celtics this season.

However, that growth didn’t take place overnight.

White began his career with a five-year run in a San Antonio Spurs uniform, playing under legendary head coach Gregg Popovich. There, White got his feet wet and became acclimated with the nature of NBA basketball. And before Popovich faced White as an opponent on Sunday in Boston, the 74-year-old praised the now-Celtics guard.

“Derrick’s a really special case of someone, over time, figuring out he belongs, basically,” Popovich told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston video. “He started out in a small college situation. … In development, he was just outstanding. He spent a lot of time before and after practices.”

White has averaged 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and four assists this season while shooting 46.1% from the field and a career-best 38.2% from beyond the arc on 4.7 attempts a game. This offensive production, coupled with White’s 0.9 blocks on average, has sky-rocketed his value in head coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation from when the C’s initially acquired him last season.

The 28-year-old has displayed an ability to remain reliable for Boston, whether off the bench or in the starting lineup.

“The immediate thing that you could see was he had an instinctive nose for the game,” Popovich said. “He understood how to play. Most NBA players don’t know how to play. He did. And he added skill development on top of that. … It was just a matter of convincing him that he did belong so his confidence would grow.”

White’s noticeable growth in confidence and production should come in handy when the Celtics begin their redemption hunt for a return to the NBA Finals.