How Celtics’ Derrick White Reacted To Call-Up From Team USA

Boston Celtics guard Derrick White was supposed to be in Cabo on a family vacation in the middle of July.

While White knew he could possibly be a replacement on Team USA, he did not expect to be the backfill for Kawhi Leonard. It was reported early that Leonard was still recovering from a knee injury, but White thought that Leonard would still play.

Instead of getting a call first to be notified that he would join the team in Abu Dhabi, the guard learned about the call-up like the rest of the public, through social media.

“I kind of figured it out when everybody else figured out when (ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski) tweeted it, and then me and my agent were talking about it a little bit through the summer,” White told reporters, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “But I had assumed that Kawhi was going to continue. But then when I seen all that happened and I got the call, I was ready to go.”

White officially got the call-up while he was in Parker, Colo. at his annual basketball camp. After the camp, he was supposed to go to a desert resort in Cabo for his family vacation to have some much-needed relaxing time.

“I just had to talk to the family and try to figure out how we can make it work and as quickly as possible. I’m super thankful and grateful and excited to be here,” White said.

The Celtics guard joins his teammates Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday on Team USA. When it was announced that White would join the team, the public was surprised that he got the call-up over Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.

Brown has sent out a number of cryptic tweets sharing his thoughts about the snub and has been asked about it, but he won’t give away too much on why he did not get the call.

While Brown could still head to Paris, the Celtics as of right now will send three of their players to the Summer Games.