{"id":69644,"date":"2023-12-31T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-31T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2023\/12\/31\/24019984\/the-mythical-greatness-of-derrick-white-boston-celtics"},"modified":"2023-12-31T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T15:00:00","slug":"the-mythical-greatness-of-derrick-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/31\/the-mythical-greatness-of-derrick-white\/","title":{"rendered":"The mythical greatness of Derrick White"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"Toronto
Photo by Brian Fluharty\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since last year\u2019s playoffs, White has grown into a figure with cult-like importance. But it\u2019s a super cool cult, and I\u2019m officially a member.<\/p>\n

Derrick White isn\u2019t the best player on the Celtics<\/a>, but I feel like he is.<\/p>\n

Sometimes in sports, we confront feelings we don\u2019t understand, and we often reject them out of principle alone. Jayson Tatum is the guy on the cereal box, having made two consecutive All-NBA First Teams and perennially leads the team in scoring. <\/p>\n

By my count, he has single-handedly won two elimination games, and is simply the first guy most people would think of if you asked them to \u201cname a Celtics player.\u201d No metric-test, eye-test, smell-test or taste-test supports anyone other than Tatum being the best player on the Celtics, and so he is now and ever shall be.<\/p>\n

But then there\u2019s the feeling-test, the blatantly unscientific way to evaluate who feels like the best player. It\u2019s based on recency bias, emotions, and\u2014above all else\u2014religiosity. Despite my better understanding, I feel like Derrick White is the best player on the team.<\/p>\n

\n \"Cleveland
\n Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images<\/cite>
\n <\/figure>\n

In the real world, a factually inaccurate feeling that causes blind devotion to an individual is called a cult. \u201cThe Cult of DWhite,\u201d of which I am a member, aims to convince the rest of the world that White has achieved a higher state of basketball consciousness. He has ascended past the media narratives that we NBA fans are bound by, and attained basketball enlightenment. Stay with me.<\/p>\n

White has managed to be both the fourth-best player on his team and the best player in the NBA simultaneously. Does that make sense? No. Is that even possible? Also, no. But this is a cult, not a rational discussion group. Our leader is above the rest, untethered by earthly concerns in pursuit of something greater.<\/p>\n

Another characteristic of a cult leader is their ability to insulate their followers from the troubles of the larger world. In White\u2019s case, he routinely makes game-saving plays that rescue the Celtics \u2014 and my extension myself \u2014 from damnation. In recent days, that damnation was going to be losing at home to two terrible teams: the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors. <\/p>\n

But White said no. <\/p>\n

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