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Derrick White humorously recalled finding out about 2022 Spurs-Celtics trade from Gregg Popovich
White reflected on a chaotic 24 hours following the trade until he made his successful Celtics debut at TD Garden.
Getting traded as a professional athlete can be chaotic, especially — as Celtic Derrick White recently explained — if you initially receive a minimal amount of information from Gregg Popovich.
White, 31, was traded to the Celtics from the Spurs at the deadline in Feb. 2022 in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round pick, and the rights to swap 2028 first-round picks.
Since arriving in Boston, White has become an integral member of the team, eventually helping to add championship banner No. 18 in 2024.
But on the fateful deadline day in 2022, White was initially perturbed at being dealt.
“Getting traded is never easy,” White explained in the first episode of his recently launched podcast, “White Noise Podcast w/Derrick White.”
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“I think it’s probably easier in the offseason, you kind of get time to relax and figure [things] out,” he said of being one of the names in an NBA deal. “But getting traded in the season is one of the craziest things that I’ve had to deal with in my NBA career. You’re on a team, you’re committed to them, you’re trying to do everything you can to help them win games, and then one day they’re like, ‘Alright, you’re on the Celtics.'”
“I was hurt, definitely, when they traded me,” White added of the Spurs.
In a sense, he acknowledged that it was painful to be shipped out from a team he’d — to that point — spent his entire professional career with.
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“That’s kind of what it’s like. ‘Why don’t they want me? They don’t believe in me. Why don’t see their future with me there?'” he said he asked himself. “So I was just like, ‘Why don’t they want me?’ I was cool with the rebuild.”
Added to the pressure was the inevitable fact that he wasn’t moving by himself.
“My wife was seven months pregnant. That makes things crazier,” White remembered. “I think getting traded to Boston makes it even crazier, because the roads make zero sense. You don’t know where you’re going. Everything is so confusing.
“San Antonio, everything is 20 minutes away. Boston, you could go two miles in 20 minutes, like it doesn’t make any sense,” White said, half-joking.
The exact way that he learned about the trade was also notable, with Popovich playing a central (and initially mysterious) role. The legendary coach provided only half of the news.
“We’re in Atlanta. Pop walks into the room and is like, ‘We traded you.’
But having told him he was no longer a Spur, Popovich was silent.
“I’m like, [traded] to where?” White said he asked.
“He’s like, ‘We wouldn’t f*** you. We sent you to Boston,” White recalled Popovich telling him.
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Brandon Bowman, a Spurs trainer (and White’s friend), texted him asking if he wanted “a bottle.” White replied that he did, and the two “started playing dominoes and drinking.”
This led to a group of players and coaches congregating in his hotel room as a sendoff party.
Eventually, Celtics assistant coach Will Hardy let White know that they were trying to get him on a flight to Boston that left in “an hour and a half.”
White acknowledged that he was not exactly in the best state of mind to travel, but persisted anyway.
“At this point I’m lit,” White said. “I’m upset that they traded me, but now I’m trying to get to the airport. Barely make my flight.”
After landing in Boston, White said he was up early the following morning to begin the process of meeting new teammates and preparing to join the Celtics.
“When you get traded, you meet everybody all at once. It’s not just the players, you meet the front office, you meet the training staff, you meet the strength staff, you meet the [nutritionists]. You meet so many people it’s just overwhelming.”
Finally, following a series of delays as all of the players involved with the trade (including those who had been dealt to San Antonio) passed their physicals, he was allowed to suit up for the game against the Nuggest that night at TD Garden.
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At the end of a whirlwind process of being traded, White noted with satisfaction that he received a warm welcome from his new fans.
“Obviously Boston’s the best crowd in the NBA,” White said. And after he got a standing ovation upon checking in for the first time, he remembered thinking “this is where I’m supposed to be at.”
In his debut, White ended up scoring 15 points with six rebounds in a 108-102 win over Denver.
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