Derrick White reflects on Stephen Curry’s words that boosted his motivation to score more

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Derrick White joined the Boston Celtics midway through the 2021-22 NBA season.

He was already well-regarded for his defensive abilities during his time with the San Antonio Spurs, and the Celtics leaned on those same skills early in his time with the team.

White’s role in Boston did not shift much at first. He averaged 11.7 points per game over his initial season and a half, playing primarily as a defensive guard, similar to how he was used in San Antonio.

Since 2023, however, White has recorded a notable increase in his scoring statistics, a change partly attributed to Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.

Stephen Curry’s ‘unbelievable’ praise for Derrick White

White and the Celtics faced off against Curry’s Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, where the Dubs came out on top to claim the championship.

Despite coming up short, White clearly made an impression. Curry later approached him with a compliment that stuck, as the 31-year-old star himself revealed during an episode of the White Noise podcast.

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“Steph came up to me two years ago, like, ‘What have you been doing? This is unbelievable. Congrats. I respect your work.’

“I’m like, ‘Let me shoot some more. I got to jack some more shots.’ Says I’m doing something right. I must be doing something right.”

White’s numbers back that up. Since then, he has averaged 15.8 points per game over the last two seasons with Boston.

Derrick White discusses adjustments to his shooting form

In the NBA, offensive prowess hinges not merely on the quantity of shots taken, but on the technique, which transforms a player into a genuine scoring threat.

Regarding that, White said: “But I think the technique I know, I’m more consistent with it. I don’t have my thumb in it. I’m more up and down.”

“I’m getting a better arc and my mentality of, ‘Just get a good shot up there.’ I can’t really control if it makes or misses, but I can control if I put up a good shot,” the Celtics star concluded.

Last season, the 31-year-old achieved a career-high average of 16.4 points per game. This figure is anticipated to rise even further during the 2025-26 NBA season, as Jayson Tatum will be out of the regular season.