Celtics’ Derrick White Earns Fitting, Unsurprising Honor In Player Poll

It’s easy to see how Derrick White might be overlooked on a star-studded Celtics team, but the guard’s valuable contributions don’t go unnoticed across the NBA.

The Athletic on Monday released its 2024 player poll, and White earned the most votes for the league’s most underrated player. The online publication surveyed 126 players anonymously, and White tied for first with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams as the top vote-getter, topping the ballot for 10.3% (13 votes) for each.

“I say that every single day: He’s one of the most underrated players in the league,” one player told The Athletic. “They talk about him more (now), but they still don’t talk about him enough.”

Anyone who has watched White over the course of his career but especially his last couple of seasons with the Celtics can attest to the guard’s value to one of the NBA’s best teams. White was a second-team All-Defensive selection a year ago, and he followed that up with arguably an even better 2023-24 season. His offense gets overshadowed on a roster featuring the likes of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, but he can fill it up, too. White averaged 15.2 points this season, a sliver below a career-high he set in San Antonio in 2020-21. That he can put up those sorts of numbers on a team with as many mouths to feed as Boston has speaks for itself. White also exceeded career averages in assists (5.2) and rebounds (4.2) this season.

“(White) defends really well (and) does a little bit of everything on offense,” another player commented.

White wasted no time making an impact on the Celtics’ latest playoff run. He scored 20 points and added four assists with three rebounds as a plus-24 in Boston’s first-round series Game 1 win over Miami on Sunday.