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Derrick White’s podcast is a view into his easy chemistry with a good friend
Not only does he have a podcast, but it’s as illuminating and entertaining as any of the other player pods.
Hosting a podcast has become something of an emblem of success for NBA players, as well as way to pass the city-to-city drudgery of the long season.
It might require fewer words to list the prominent players that don’t have their own pods than those that do, the latter an ever-growing list that includes LeBron James, Draymond Green, Tyrese Maxey, Knicks/Villanova pals Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, Trae Young, Paul George, and CJ McCollum, and on and on, right on down the depth chart.
When Derrick White was acquired in an Auerbachian heist by Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens from the Spurs in February 2022, he came across as uncommonly shy for an NBA player. He was just about the last Celtic you’d think someday would have his own podcast.
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Yet here he is now, four seasons later, an NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and quintessential Celtic — one with a remarkably high approval rating among the fan base. And not only does he have a podcast, but it’s as illuminating and entertaining as any of the other player pods.
“He says, ‘I think I’ve come a long way,’ ” says Alex Welsh, White’s best friend and former college teammate, who co-hosts the podcast titled White Noise. “We did a crossover episode with Tommy Alter, who’s one of the co-hosts of Old Man and the Three, which he started with JJ Redick back in the day. He asked Derrick, ‘I’ve known you for a while, and I would have never really thought you’d have your own podcast.’ And Derrick’s like, ‘Man, [expletive], me either.’ ”
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“Welsh is much more outgoing than I am,” says White. “I’ve always been the quiet guy, the shy guy, and he can and will talk to anybody. It’s a good little back and forth between the two of us. He has good energy, and it gives me a chance to show people who I really am.”
White Noise, which launched last June, has 27 episodes so far, and usually features a Celtics player as a guest. It’s usually recorded in the basement studio of White’s Lexington home, which is equipped with a set reminiscent of the memorabilia-covered walls at the late, great Canal Street sports bar The Fours.
White and Welsh also sometimes record at the Auerbach Center, and Welsh — who in his day job works remotely in tech sales — will sometimes travel from his home in Colorado to meet White on the road.
The podcast is superb on a couple of levels. It offers insight on the Celtics. Many of the morsels of behind-the-scenes anecdotes that end up getting aggregated or generating social media traction have come from the White Noise pod. A couple of the zanier stories about Joe Mazzulla’s methods have come from the casually candid White, including the Celtics coach playing machine-gun sounds during practice, and emboldening the players to determine which players would start a game.
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The other reason White Noise is such a worthwhile listen? The easy chemistry between White and Welsh.
The most important aspect of any audio sports program is that the hosts sound like they are genuine friends, with a dialogue that the listener yearns to be part of. It’s rarer than one would think.
White and Welsh, who met as freshmen basketball players at Division 2 University of Colorado Colorado Springs in 2012, don’t require any guise of being pals. They are best friends, and it’s their superpower as hosts.
Welsh was an outstanding player in his own right. The 6-foot-7-inch forward broke White’s UCCS career scoring record (“He holds that over my head,” said White) and played professionally overseas.
“We came in together and basically became the best players by the end of our freshman year,” said White. “So we had great chemistry on the court and every class together off the court, so we spent a lot of time together.”
White Noise came to be because a mutual friend — Austin Eastman, one of the founders of the social media brand Kicks, which handles the technical and social media aspects of the show now — was around White and Welsh often and was amused by their banter.
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Eastman told Welsh that they should host a podcast. “His pitch was, ‘People love Derrick, and they barely know him, how lighthearted and fun he really is,” said Welsh.
Welsh brought it to White, who quickly decided he was onboard. “Our friend [Eastman] was like, ‘Welsh would be really good at it,’ and I was like, ‘OK, if you say so,’ ” said White with a laugh.
Welsh does lead the dialogue, and the casual, laughter-filled vibe of the show suggests this is exactly what White and Welsh might have sounded like while hanging out in their dorm playing NBA2K or Madden not long after arriving at UCCS back in 2012.
The friendship endured even when White made the decision to level up to Division 1 and transfer to the University of Colorado after averaging 25.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as a junior at UCCS in 2014-15.
And it endured even after Welsh learned that White was transferring from someone else. “I heard from a Colorado player,” said Welsh. “He texted me, ‘Man, we’re hyped to have Derrick’ or something. And I was like, what?”
“I was kind of trapped,” said White. “I was sort of secretly looking into it, and basically at the end of the process is when I decided that I was going to transfer. I went down to his room” — White and Welsh lived in a house with some teammates — “because he was like, ‘You got something to say?’ “
Welsh chuckles now at the recollection. “I hear him come down the stairs, and anybody that knows Derrick, he doesn’t like conflict. You think Derrick is shy now, you could picture him 10 years ago — super shy, he was all nervous. He’s tells me, ‘Hey man, I’m transferring.’ He looks at me and goes, ‘Are you mad?’ I said, ‘No, bro, I’m sad for me, but happy for you.’ ”
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Said White, “I was worried about how he felt, but he was super supportive, and that meant so much.”
Even great friendships can fade when circumstances change and the distance apart grows. White and Welsh made sure that didn’t happen with a conscious effort to support each other. NCAA rules required White to redshirt a year after transferring, so he frequently attended his former teammates’ games during the hiatus. “He was there when I broke the record for all-time points,” said Welsh.
When Welsh was playing overseas, he would get up at 4 a.m. to watch White’s Colorado games. “You go the extra mile for people you care about,” said Welsh.
“Obviously we were far apart when he was playing in a different country,” said White, “but we’ve always prioritized being there for each other. Our families are super close. His wife is close to my wife, our kids are about the same age. So we kind of experience all differ aspects of life together.”
The first official season of White Noise will wrap up in a couple episodes. White is taking a hiatus when the Celtics playoff journey begins this week. Welsh will have a surprise co-host for the postseason, a “beloved member of the Celtics community,” he said.
White will return to the show with his buddy this summer. In the meantime, their friendship will keep thriving, even if we won’t be able to listen in on it for a little while.
“He prides himself on being there for people,” said Welsh. “He’s my best friend. I’d do anything for him, and I know he’d do the same for me.”
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