{"id":134100,"date":"2025-04-14T15:08:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T19:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134100"},"modified":"2025-04-14T17:20:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T21:20:22","slug":"derrick-white-all-defensive-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/14\/derrick-white-all-defensive-case\/","title":{"rendered":"The Definitive Guide To Derrick White\u2019s All-Defensive Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the NBA regular season complete, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/04\/nba-awards-odds-and-races\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">award conversations<\/a> are heating up. One of the more under-the-radar awards is the two <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/08\/2024-25-nba-all-defensive-team-predictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">All-Defensive<\/a> teams. The league is loaded with elite defenders and numerous players have a case to make an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/12\/celtics-all-defensive\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">All-Defensive team<\/a>. Boston Celtics guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/whitede01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick White<\/a> has made All-Defensive second-team the past two seasons. Let&#8217;s dive into White&#8217;s rock-solid All-Defensive case this season.<\/p>\n<h2>The Definitive Guide to Derrick White\u2019s All-Defensive Case<\/h2>\n<h3>Elite Versatility and Help Defense<\/h3>\n<p>In today&#8217;s NBA, versatility is the most important defensive trait and White is easily one of the league&#8217;s most versatile defenders. White averaged 1.1 blocks per game and his 80 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/which-guard-has-the-most-blocks-this-season\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">total blocks<\/a> led all guards. Notably, he ranked 21st for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/leaders?StatCategory=BLK&amp;PerMode=Totals\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">total blocks,<\/a> recording more blocks than players such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarrett Allen<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a>. White blocked a variety of shots throughout the season including wreaking havoc off the ball with his elite help defense, making quick reads to swat jump shots, making hustle plays in transition, and defending the rim. He does an incredible job of anticipating the offense&#8217;s next move to position himself to block shots. Impressively, White is tied with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a> for the most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/nba\/ask\/most-blocks-per-game-by-a-guard-nba-history\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blocked shots<\/a> per game by a guard of all-time. Needless to say, White&#8217;s shot-blocking abilities as a guard are unique and historic.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Derrick White&#39;s best blocks of the 2024-25 regular season: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ke1cJeWWeW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ke1cJeWWeW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Eamon Cassels (@EamonCassels) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EamonCassels\/status\/1911628432863043749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/09\/derrick-white-all-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">White&#8217;s defensive awareness<\/a> also translates to him grabbing steals, he averaged .9 steals on the year and recorded 72 total steals. He does a great job of poking the ball loose from the ball handler, especially in transition and playing the passing lanes in the half-court. Combined with his ability to block shots, White is one of the most disruptive defenders in the league. Overall, White has incredible defensive instincts and IQ.<\/p>\n<h4>One of a Kind Defender<\/h4>\n<p>White offers elite-level rim protection which is rare for a guard. Opponents shot 58.6 percent at the rim against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/player\/1628401\/defense-dash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">White<\/a> compared to the league average of 62.1 percent. This skill set allows the Celtics to run lineups with White as the center on defense. Additionally, it gives the Celtics&#8217; defense extra security as he often plays a free safety type of role, roaming around the court constantly forcing turnovers. Data from Sportradar and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CrumpledJumper\/status\/1910807564109201668\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Todd Whitehead<\/a> shows that White ranks ninth in defending the paint, he also ranks fourth at the<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CrumpledJumper\/status\/1910857931802775755\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> point of attack<\/a>, making him the only player to appear in the top 10 of both lists. Defending the paint and the point-of-attack are undoubtedly two of the most crucial defensive responsibilities and White offers both at an elite level. Ultimately, this level of versatility is unprecedented and can&#8217;t be ignored.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Derrick White is special <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MIkC2v3KTJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/MIkC2v3KTJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/celticsblog\/status\/1910879390193320056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>White&#8217;s Stellar On-Ball Defense<\/h3>\n<p>While White is mainly known for his versatility and shot-blocking he is also a lockdown on-ball defender. This season, White posted an impressive defensive field goal percentage of 44 and ranked in the 90th percentile for estimated<a href=\"https:\/\/dunksandthrees.com\/epm?m=def\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> defensive plus-minus<\/a>. Throughout the season White contained All-Star-level players including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garlada01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Darius Garland<\/a> (26.7 percent from the field), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a> (36.4), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a> (35.7), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> (35.7); these numbers highlight his elite on-ball defense.<\/p>\n<p>White excels at containing three-point shooters. Opponents shot just 31.1 percent from three when guarded by White. This elite DFG% is more impressive considering White&#8217;s 5.2<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/player\/1628401\/defense-dash\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> threes contested<\/a> per game were among the most in the league. White&#8217;s quickness and awareness make him an exceptional on-ball defender. Ultimately, White\u2019s combination of on-ball defense and incredible versatility make him one of the most impactful defenders in the league.<\/p>\n<h3>White&#8217;s Importance to the Celtics<\/h3>\n<p>Boston finished the season with the fourth-ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?Season=2024-25&amp;dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defense<\/a> which should be represented on an All-Defensive team. The Celtics&#8217; defense is built around switchability and versatility. This season, White was undoubtedly the catalyst to this scheme. His ability to either guard the opposing team&#8217;s best perimeter player or wreak havoc off-ball is invaluable.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/05\/derrick-white-makes-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">White&#8217;s importance to the Celtics<\/a> increased this season since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/porzikr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a> all missed time throughout the season. Porzi\u0146\u0123is played in 42 games, Brown in 63, and Holiday in 62. Furthermore, White played in 416 more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/BOS\/2025.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">total minutes<\/a> than Brown, 678 more than Holiday, and 1,364 more than Porzi\u0146\u0123is. White had far more perimeter responsibilities without Brown and Holiday. His shot-blocking and rim-protection abilities were also vital without Porzi\u0146\u0123is. While White has always been a key part of the Celtics&#8217; defense his impact was even more crucial this season.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>White is firmly a bubble player in a loaded All-Defensive race. If it was up to me <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mobleev01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Mobley<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/greendr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Draymond Green<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompam01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amen Thompson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daniedy01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dyson Daniels<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dortlu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lu Dort <\/a>would lead the All-Defensive first team. Followed by White, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=jacksja02,jacksja01&amp;search=Jaren+Jackson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaren Jackson Jr<\/a>., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/z\/zubaciv01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivica Zubac<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-14_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willija06.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Williams <\/a>for second-team. It&#8217;s a loaded field and there would be some controversial snubs with my picks including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/camarto01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toumani Camara<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anunoog01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-04-12_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Anunoby.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, White&#8217;s combination of versatility and lockdown on-ball defense gives him a clear case. White&#8217;s importance to an elite defensive team and impact on winning basketball complete his case. Ultimately, only time will tell if White earns his third straight All-Defensive selection, but his case is undeniable.<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: \u00a9 David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the NBA regular season complete, award conversations are heating up. One of the more under-the-radar awards is the two All-Defensive teams. The league is loaded with elite defenders and numerous players have a case to make an All-Defensive team. Boston Celtics guard Derrick White has made All-Defensive second-team the past two seasons. Let&#8217;s dive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4779,"featured_media":134205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,5,62],"tags":[1090],"class_list":["post-134100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nba","tag-derrick-white"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134100"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134368,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134100\/revisions\/134368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}