Team USA recruited Jrue Holiday at the beginning of the NBA regular season, and Jayson Tatum joined the squad to chase his second gold medal. Yet now that they are both in Paris, a third Boston Celtics star is shining the brightest: Derrick White.
Through Team USA’s first two showings at the Olympics, White has been incredible. He’s not putting up mind-melting stats, but his impact on both ends has been undeniable. White has been a perfect offensive connector, a Tasmanian devil on defense, and a knock-down three-point shooter.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr shows love to Celtics star Derrick White
Head coach Steve Kerr has had to make some very difficult lineup decisions thus far, including benching Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Haliburton for full games. But White hasn’t been benched yet, and Kerr clearly values the Celtics guard very highly.
“Derrick’s a champion,” Kerr said via Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “He’s a phenomenal basketball player, and he’ll continue to make a huge impact for us.”
White helped the Celtics win Banner 18 this summer and was rewarded with a massive contract extension. He inked the dotted line with Boston on a four-year, $125.9 deal.
Ever since his time in high school, White has been battling the odds. As a zero-star recruit, he attended University of Colorado Colorado Springs for three years before transferring to the University of Coloardo. Now, after a brief All-Star campaign, he’s an NBA Champion and helping Team USA fight for a gold medal.
And with Kerr’s praises comes the likelihood that White could be utilized in most Team USA lineups—and he should be.
Guys like LeBron James and Kevin Durant will obviously lead the charge, but the squad needs elite role players around those types of players. White played a role-player role on the Celtics, and it led to a title. He should certainly be able to do the same this summer.
Both he and Holiday make sense with virtually every lineup Team USA can throw onto the court, so it makes sense that they see minutes in every game (barring a significant change in Kerr’s strategy).
White has been perfect for Team USA, and Kerr seems to see that.