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.”
