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The adopted this mantra for the playoffs. Whether in Game 3 of the NBA Finals they are trailing by 13 points in the opening 12 minutes or their 21-point lead is unraveling in the fourth quarter, , and nobody embodies that mantra better than . A member of Team USA's 2019 FIBA World Cup roster, White joined the Celtics from the .

He was well-versed in selfless basketball. He also arrived in Boston in February 2022 in a state of flux, midway through this core's initial run to the NBA Finals, his wife pregnant with their first-born son. "I was actually with him in the day Hendrix was born," says White's trainer, Marcus Mason, recalling the morning of Game 2 of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals.



"I'll never forget just how nervous he was. He wasn't nervous about playing basketball. I know the difference.

He was nervous about being a dad." Forgive White if he was finding his footing, unwilling to step on 's and 's toes. The growth of White over the past two seasons has coincided with the growth of a champion in Boston.

"The comfort level and opportunity has increased," adds Derrick's father, Richard White. "Tatum and Brown have always said, 'Hey, you've got to keep shooting. We're at our best when you're out there being aggressive.

' When he first got to the team, he was kind of starstruck. All of a sudden, we're playing games into May and June, which he didn't do in . Expectations in Boston are high.

It's championship or bust. They started to go on a run before he got traded, but .

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