PHILADELPHIA — Derrick White started getting ‘congratulations’ texts on Thursday afternoon. At first, he didn’t know what for.
Then, he realized he had won the NBA’s annual Sportsmanship Award, which is bestowed upon the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.
“It’s pretty cool,” White said at Celtics shootaround on Friday morning. “I think I’m doing things the right way out there, and I think it’s a pretty cool honor.”
The selection was no surprise to White’s Celtics teammates.
Payton Pritchard smiled when asked about White earning the honor.
“Derrick is such a just a good human being, good teammate,” Pritchard said. “I don’t think anybody really talks crap to Derrick, so he don’t talk to anybody. But you can just tell by looking at him: he’s a good person.”
During games, White is oftentimes very chatty with opposing team’s players during dead-ball situations. At the free-throw line, he shares a laugh with whoever he’s guarding.
“We have respect for each other,” White said. “But, at the end of the day, you’re competing, you want to win. So that’s kind of when I’m at my best, is when I’m kind of doing different stuff, like that. And for other people, that doesn’t work, but I feel like it works for me.”
After the final buzzer sounds, he usually chats with his competitors longer than any of his Celtics teammates. From an onlooker’s perspective, it appears that White is friends with almost everyone in the NBA.
Each team nominated one of its players for the Sportsmanship Award. Then, from the 30 nominees, a panel of league executives selected six finalists (one per division). The five other finalists were T.J McConnell (Indiana Pacers), Harrison Barnes (San Antonio Spurs), Al Horford (Golden State Warriors), Bam Adebayo (Miami Heat), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder).
NBA players then ranked those six players, and White came away with the most total points (though McConnell actually finished with the most first-place votes).
“I don’t know if guys take those votes too seriously or not,” White said. “But, man, it was just cool to be nominated and go out there and do the right thing.”
Last year, Jrue Holiday won the award as a Celtic.
“I just learned a lot from Jrue,” White said. “So, shoutout Jrue.”
The Celtics and the 76ers will face off for Game 3 on Friday night. White said immediately after a playoff loss, it feels like the world is ending. But the team then reviews films and gets back to the drawing board of how to get better for the next game.
“That’s the playoffs,” White said. “I don’t think anybody’s ever not lost a game, so you kind of have to reset, figure out what you did wrong, figure out what you can do well, and make the adjustments. And that’s the cool thing about the playoffs — anything can change in one game. So it’s a big game tonight, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”
