Olympic Games Paris 2024

Paris 2024 Olympics: Basketball star Derrick White was ready for a family vacation - but then got a surprise call from Team USA

By Gary Washburn
4 min|
Derrick White, Game Five of the 2024 NBA Finals 

Picture by Elsa/Getty Images

Derrick White had heard the reports. He heard his name circulated as a potential replacement for Kawhi Leonard in Team USA basketball. Yet Leonard was practicing and appeared primed to remain on the team.

Then White got a call from his agent and wondered why he would reach out so close to the Olympic Games Paris 2024. They wanted White.

The unassuming guard, who helped the Boston Celtics to their first NBA championship in 16 years, heartily accepted the offer to be the team’s utility man, a combo guard who can score, defend and run an offense.

“I was like, ‘Why is he calling me? The deal’s done’,” White said of the Team USA final roster. “I’ve heard a lot from him in the last week so I was wondering why he was calling me. He told me (I was on the team). I just had to figure out the family situation real quick but I was excited.”

Derrick White is hoping to make the most of his opportunity with Team USA (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

Derrick White is going full circle

White’s road to Paris is highly unlikely. He began his college career at Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS), where coincidently the USA Olympic Training Center (USOC) is located. White then transferred to the University of Colorado for his senior year and played his way into the first round of the NBA Draft.

After spending four and a half seasons with the Spurs, he was traded to the Celtics in 2022. In Boston, he has flourished as one of the league’s top defenders and reliable scorers. He just signed a four-year contract extension earlier this month.

“My boy (from Colorado) texted me and he was like, ‘If you wanted to be a part of USA Basketball when we were in UCCS, you had to get an internship’,” he said. “Now I’m on the team and in the Olympics. It’s kind of crazy how it came full circle, especially coming from the Springs and USOC’s there, so it’s definitely special.”

Derrick White’s spirit of a champion

While his name circulated as a potential replacement for Leonard, White told his agent he didn’t want to hear about any Team USA rumors during Boston’s playoff run. He wanted to concentrate on that championship. The Celtics went 16-3 during their playoff run and eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in five games to earn the first titles for White and Team USA teammate Jayson Tatum. Fellow Celtic Jrue Holiday, also a USA guard, won a title in 2021 with Milwaukee before helping USA win gold at Tokyo 2020.

“It’s unreal, everywhere you go it feels like new guys calling you, ‘Champ’,” he said. “The ups, the downs, it just makes it all worth it.”

White now transfers his focus to Team USA, which is seeking its fifth consecutive gold medal, and he filled a need in the backcourt and at point guard. Holiday will be able to tell him the feeling of shifting straight from an NBA championship win to a gold-medal run.

“Any time you can play with the USA team is special,” said White, who was a member of the 2019 World Cup team. “This group we have are working for a common goal, this is what makes basketball fun. It’s a little different from the NBA because it’s a long season, you’re with the guys a lot longer and this is just a quick, condensed, six games at most. That’s the biggest difference. But you’re playing for something special, that’s fun.”

Now that he’s in Paris, White has to figure out the family logistics. He brought his wife and two young children on the trip but his father Richard, his biggest fan and supporter, didn’t have such an easy road to joining his son here.

Richard White did not have a passport, so he quickly applied for one and it’s the first time he will leave the United States, according to Derrick.

“He has been there my whole life,” White said of his father. “He was my coach growing up, always there supporting me. It has been cool to see him coming along with this journey and see how much joy and how proud he is over me.”

Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.

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