Derrick White joins short list of Coloradoans to win an NBA Title

Derrick White joined an elite group of local legends as his Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the NBA Finals on Monday to claim the franchise’s eighteenth title.

White was already just one of 20 NBA players ever to be born in Colorado, one of 28 to play their high school ball in the Centennial State and one of 29 to suit up for the Buffaloes. Now he’s become the fourth person born in Colorado, the fourth person to play high school ball in Colorado and forth person to play for the CU Buffs, who has won an NBA Championship.

White joins Chauncey Billups, Joe Kleine, Chuck Nevitt as Colorado born to hang an NBA banner, while joining Billups, Reggie Jackson and Scott Wedman as the state’s prep players to win an NBA title while just Billups, Wedman and Matt Bullard are Buffaloes who went on to win a championship at the highest level.

DERRICK WHITE. NBA CHAMPION. 🏆#GoBuffs | #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/CAsbOuWU4x

— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) June 18, 2024

White Started 73 games in the regular season for Boston and all 18 playoff games, making his second-straight All-Defensive Team. In the regular season, White’s numbers were up across the board, averaging 15.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1 steal and 1.2 blocks a game on 40% shooting from deep. White’s production has again risen in the postseason, capping his ring with 69 points, 24 rebounds, 14 assists, six steals and five blocks in the Finals.

"I'd lose all my teeth for a championship."

Whatever it takes for Derrick White 🏆 pic.twitter.com/cbtdpRVOCM

— NBA (@NBA) June 18, 2024

White’s strong summer may not be done, with it reported that he’s still an option to make Team USA for the Paris Olympics. We’ll see if he has any time to comeback to Colorado with such a short summer in 2024, he’s recently participated in the Celebrity Softball Game during the MLB All-Star Game in Denver and has held youth camps to teach basketball.

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