How Joe Mazzulla Reacted To Derrick White Earning All-Defensive Nod

BOSTON — Derrick White was next in line for the Boston Celtics to earn end-of-season recognition, which he received Tuesday.

White was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team in his first full season with the Celtics after leading all guards in the league with 76 blocks and 509 contested shots.

While Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is focused on a collective achievement with Boston in the middle of its playoff run, he realized the importance of White earning the first league honor of his six-year career.

“It’s great to see the guys get individual accolades,” Mazzulla said prior to Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden. “I think that’s important because they have goals and they work hard at them. And especially the last two years having two guys get defensive awards, I think is really important. It’s always an adjustment playing our system and I think he’s done a great job navigating that and learning how to be effective in different areas in our defensive system. So, I’m happy for him. It’s great to see our guys just take ownership and stuff like that.”

White is just the seventh guard in the illustrious history of the Celtics to notch an All-Defensive nod. The 28-year-old was well-deserving of it, too, as to go along with his penchant for blocking shots, he registered the fourth-best plus-minus rating in the NBA.

While White being selected wasn’t all that surprising, he wasn’t reveling in the accomplishment prior to the teams being announced.

“That would be a pretty cool honor,” White told reporters at Tuesday’s shootaround, per Celtics.com’s Marc D’Amico. “It’s a lot of hard work and effort. I’m not too focused on it, obviously, but it’d probably mean a lot… especially to my dad.”