When the Boston Celtics acquired Derrick White at the NBA trade deadline earlier this month, they were getting somewhat of a known commodity.
White, who'd spent the first four and a half seasons of his NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs, played two of those seasons under then-Spurs assistant Ime Udoka, who's now White's head coach in Boston.
In addition to their experiences on Team USA together, the Udoka-White relationship seems to have picked up where it left off through four games together with the Celtics.
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"He’s a guy I don’t really have to worry about," Udoka said. "He’s accustomed to being coached hard, he’s receptive to it, and he’s ready to roll."
White has averaged 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists over about 30 minutes per game with Boston, and the team is 3-1 with him on board.
White has come off the bench three times already for the Celtics after starting 48 of 49 games he appeared in for the Spurs in 2021-22, but looks to be a fixture in the team's closing lineups.