“You look at all the advanced stuff, he’s a top 5 player in the league, a superstar.”
When discussing the Celtics’ sustained success over the last few seasons, much of the praise naturally goes to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. However, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was quick to highlight another crucial member of Boston’s lineup ahead of the Celtics’ 109-98 victory on Sunday afternoon.
“Derrick White, he’s a top five player in this league,” Atkinson said, according to MassLive’s Bran Robb. “I know no one says that in the standard media, but analytically, you look at all the advanced stuff, he’s a top 5 player in the league, a superstar.
“Jaylen [Brown] is obviously having a great year. [Neemias] Queta is analytically one of the top 30 players, probably. They have a lot of talent even without Jayson. So I think if you just kind of look, oh my gosh, Jayson Tatum’s out, they’re going to be terrible, I never bought into that.”
While Derrick White’s stats might not jump off the page like those of Brown or Tatum (when healthy), the 31-year-old guard influences the game in numerous ways. Although White’s shooting has dipped this season, with a 39.4% field goal percentage, he is still averaging 17.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game in his fifth season with Boston.
With Tatum missing the first 61 games of the 2025-26 campaign recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, White stepped up as Boston’s secondary scoring option behind Brown. Now that Tatum has returned and is cleared to play for the season’s final stretch, White can resume his versatile role as Boston’s Swiss Army Knife.
Beyond filling the stat sheet, White’s ability to guard multiple positions and protect the paint has made him coach Joe Mazzulla’s go-to defensive stopper this season.
In Sunday’s game against Cleveland, White had a quieter performance, scoring just six points on 2-for-9 shooting, along with seven rebounds and five assists. However, with Brown and Tatum combining for 43 points, the Celtics don’t rely on White to carry too much of the offensive load to make a positive impact on the team.
“They’re really good. I mean, they’re a tough matchup for everybody,” Atkinson remarked on Sunday. “They got a championship pedigree, right? This is another level. This is an elite, elite team, one of the elites of the league. We got a lot to prove that this is part of it, getting over the hump. They’re really good, and now they have Tatum back.”
https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2026/03/08/derrick-white-boston-celtics-top-five-player-nba-cavaliers-basketball-ranked-kenny-atkinson/