Boston Celtics guard Derrick White took home an important award on Thursday afternoon before the Celtics play the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night in Game 3 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

White was named as the Sportsmanship Award winner, which doesn't carry the same gravitas as the MVP Award or the Defensive Player of the Year, but it's still a nice recognition for what a player means to an organization on and off the court.

Per the NBA:

The 2025-26 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner is... Derrick White!

White receives the Joe Dumars Trophy for the annual honor that recognizes the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

White is the second straight Celtics guard to win the award, as Jrue Holliday won it in 2024-25.

Now 31 years old, White is a nine-year veteran of the San Antonio Spurs and Celtics. Acquired by Boston in 2021-22, he's helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals twice, winning it in 2023-24. An excellent two-way player, White is one of the best defensive guards in the league while also providing solid offense.

He averaged a career-high 16.5 ppg this season, helping alleviate the losses of Holliday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum (mostly). However, he shot just 32.7 percent from three-point range, which is his lowest since 2021-22. He's a career 36.0 percent shooter from beyond the arc. His troubles have extended to the playoffs, where he's just 4-of-17 from three-point range over the first two games of the series, which is tied at 1-1.

White finished sixth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting this season.

We took a deeper look at these on Wednesday, but the Celtics should be encouraged by the consistent rebounding advantage they've had in this series and by the advantage at the free-throw line that they held in Game 2.

If they can continue to get to the line and force the issue inside, they'll have an opportunity to overcome struggles from beyond the arc. However, they won't want to struggle so much shooting again in Game 3. They were just 13-of-50 from three-point range in the Game 2 loss.

The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET on Friday night. It will be the first game of the series in Philadelphia and will air exclusively on Amazon Prime, making it unattainable to several C's fans who have not signed up for the streaming service.

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