Derrick White took a while to get used to playing with the Boston Celtics, his respect for his teammates perhaps causing him to play a little too cautiously out of fear of rocking a well-established boat too much in the process. But little by little, that footing has gone away for White — and after hearing about it for the first time himself, teammate Al Horford wouldn’t have it any other way.
After the former San Antonio Spurs put up a critical 21 points for Boston off the bench on Thursday on the way to the Celtics’ Game 1 NBA Finals win over the Golden State Warriors, Horford became aware of White’s trepidations at the podium. “I wasn’t aware of that,” said Horford. “We love Derrick, what he’s brought to our group, his energy, his commitment to working hard. He continues to work no matter how is it going for him individually, he continues to prepare.”
“We have a lot of confidence in him,” added the Celtics veteran. “Thank you for telling me that. I’ll make sure I address it. It’s something that he just needs to go out there and play — we have the utmost confidence in him.”
Some of the best plays of Game 1 of the finals captured in images. https://t.co/MJTX2tBG66
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 3, 2022
“He was huge for us tonight,” explained Horford. “His confidence, his energy were really good for us.” If the Celtics can depend on even half of what he was able to provide them with for the rest of the series, Banner 18 might just end up getting hung this summer.
That is, so long as White stops tiptoeing around and asserts himself as his teammates — and actions — have shown he can.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
