Guard receives Defensive Player of the Month award before tip at TD Garden.
Before Monday night’s game at TD Garden, Derrick White finally had something tangible to show for it.
As the Boston Celtics prepared to take on the Phoenix Suns, White was presented with his Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month award for February - a long-overdue piece of recognition for one of the most quietly dominant defenders in the NBA.
Of course, the Celtics didn’t need a trophy to tell them that.
Maybe Brad Stevens said it best a few weeks ago.
“Everybody's going to focus on his shooting, but every time he's on the court, we win by a lot,” Stevens told the media.
Spot the lie.
That’s not coach-speak. That’s math.
White currently sits near the top of the NBA in total plus/minus, trailing only MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s ahead of just about every other superstar in the league - all while averaging 17.5 points per game on a relatively modest shooting line.
And now, there’s hardware to match the impact.
White’s February was a masterclass in defensive versatility.
The Celtics went 9-2 during the month, powered by the league’s best defensive rating at 105.5. With White on the floor this season, Boston’s defense improves dramatically - by nearly 12 points per 100 possessions.
For a 6-foot-4 guard, that kind of impact doesn’t just stand out - it breaks the mold.
Mar 16, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) attempts a basket against Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) during the first half at the TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images)In 11 games during February, White averaged 1.7 blocks and 0.8 steals, numbers that look more like a rim-protecting big than a backcourt player. He recorded multiple blocks in more than half those games and contested 75 shots - the most of any guard in the league during that stretch.
Shot-blocking guards aren’t supposed to exist like this.
White makes it feel routine.
And as his impact has grown, so has Boston’s defense.
The Celtics opened the season hovering near the bottom third of the league defensively. By February, they had climbed all the way to the top - a leap driven in large part by White’s ability to disrupt everything from the perimeter to the rim.
He’s already earned two All-Defensive selections in Boston and has finished in the top 10 of Defensive Player of the Year voting twice.
This award doesn’t change how the Celtics view him.
It just puts a name, and now a trophy, to something they’ve known all along.
When Derrick White is on the floor, everything works.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.