Derrick White’s growth as a player — from a 3&D guard to a legitimate fourth option on a championship-winning team — has been glorious. But even he had to hit rock bottom before finding his place at the top. And that symbolic rock bottom for him was the 2022 NBA Finals, when the Boston Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
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The defensive coverage, or rather the lack of it, he received from the Warriors during the 2022 Finals was a wake-up call for him. The Dubs left him open purposely, knowing his lesser shooting prowess at the time. After Boston’s over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, White recalled that the summer after the championship loss was one of the most important ones of his life.
He spent the whole offseason working with his trainer to improve his consistency on the offensive front. His three-point shooting has been the biggest area of improvement. And according to him, it’s all because of how the Warriors, and especially Draymond Green, sagged off him in the 2022 Finals.
White shot a miserable 31.2% from three during the 2021-22 regular season, and it didn’t get any better in the playoffs. He shot a measly 31.3%. Whatever he did that summer worked because in the next season, White was on fire from three.
He shot 38.1% in the 2022-23 regular season and 45.5% in the playoffs that year. This upward trend continued, with a solid 39.6% in the 2023-24 regular season and a respectable 40.4% en route to the Celtics’ first championship in 16 years.
White told reporters that he thanked Green after the Olympics last year, crediting the Dubs’ defensive strategy as the catalyst that transformed his shooting.
“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 me,” said White.
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
Of course, Green isn’t one to not run his mouth, and thanks to clips from his podcast, fans do know that the Dubs leaving White open in the Finals was part of their game plan. Green even spoke about this two years back.
Green’s shots at White continued even after winning the Finals
In a resurfaced clip, Green was seen speaking about the Dubs’ Game 1 loss to the Celtics in 2022. He described how the 3-point shooting of the Celtics’ role players hurt them. Al Horford, Marcus Smart, and White shot a combined 15-23 from three to get the Celtics back into the game and eventually win.
On his pod, Green praised both Horford and Smart, claiming they had been shooting well throughout the playoffs, but hinted that White’s hit night from beyond the arc was down to dumb luck.
“Al Horford’s been shooting the lights out all playoffs, Marcus Smart’s been shooting extremely well all playoffs too,” he said.
“Derrick White hadn’t shot the ball from three extremely well throughout the playoffs, nor historically well throughout his career… Some of the threes he hit last night, the rim was just wide,” added Green.
White may have tolerated these snide shots from Green, but he did have the last laugh two years later. The Warriors failed to make the playoffs, while the Celtics capped off one of the most dominant regular seasons ever with a fitting title parade.
