Derrick White made Boston Celtics history Monday night, and he had the Warriors in part to thank for that.
White passed Isaiah Thomas’ record for most 3-pointers made in a season after reaching his 247th trey in Boston’s 117-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. But his confidence from behind the arc wasn’t always there.
Until … Boston’s 2022 NBA Finals loss against Golden State.
White admitted that was a pivotal point of his career that fueled his massive 3-point shooting improvement.
“After the Finals, I feel like that was the biggest summer of my life,” White told reporters in Memphis. “Obviously what happened in the Finals and how I was being guarded on that stage. It was like one of the lowest points. I told Draymond [Green] after the [2024] Olympics that he kind of changed my life because they weren’t guarding me.
“So I had to go in that summer and me and my trainer, Marcus Mason, just focused on being consistent. I think from that point, I just got better and better.”
To put it lightly.
Before being dealt to the Celtics at the 2022 NBA trade deadline, White never shot better than 36.6 percent from 3-point land in nearly five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. He shot 30.6 percent from deep on 4.3 attempts in his first 26 regular-season games with Boston.
In the Finals, he shot 18 of 55 from the field (32.7 percent) and 10 of 25 from downtown (40 percent), but five of those 3s came during a breakout Game 1 performance. He shot 29.4 percent from 3-point range the rest of the six-game series.
He took the loss hard that summer, but took his frustrations out in the gym. Adjustments were made, and the results are clear.
White shot 38.1 percent on 4.8 attempts and 39.6 percent on 6.8 attempts over the following two seasons, respectively, including shooting nearly 40 percent in Boston’s NBA Finals win over the Dallas Mavericks last year.
This season, he’s shooting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc on a career-high 9.1 attempts.
Derrick White told Draymond Green he changed his life after how he guarded him in NBA Finals:
“How I was being guarded on that stage. I mean it was like one of the lowest points. I told Draymond after the Olympics that he kind of changed my life because they weren’t guarding… pic.twitter.com/ifRJU1Q13q
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) April 1, 2025
Despite the budding rivalry between the Celtics and Warriors that grew heated during that Finals matchup, there’s a level of respect between the two teams, and especially between White and Green.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect,” White said of Green. “He just sees the work that I put in to change how I play and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him.”
Sometimes, a little disrespect is all the fuel you need to turn things around.
