The 2023-24 NBA season started out a little competitive, internally speaking, for the Boston Celtics. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday made it known they were hosting a block contest. Inside a studio that lies just a few steps away from the parquet practice court in the Auerbach Center on an early September afternoon, the friendly competition from last season is the first topic of discussion.
Jrue immediately points to Derrick, the winner.
I won the blocks, I think Jrue won the steals. I was pretty confident I would beat him in blocks, and we discovered that, Derrick says, before flashing a quick glance to Jrue as he prepares for a potential comeback. The Stock Exchange, they both count, he continues.
Steals, blocks, dropping 30-pieces and everything in between, its no exaggeration to say that the Celtics starting guards do anything and everything thats required to win. And as a result, theyve experienced a summer that only six other NBA players ever have: winning an NBA championship and an Olympic Gold medal all within the span of two months. Now add SLAM cover stars to that list. They just wont stop winning.
SLAM 252 featuring Derrick White and Jrue Holiday is available now.
Derrick White and Jrue Holiday arent just dedicated to their many, many responsibilities. They achieve greatness through them. They excel at being great at everything, so at a moments notice, they can fulfill any role needed. They defend the best players, no matter the position. They initiate the offense. They operate out of the dunker spot. They put their bodies on the line. They make the game easier for everyone around them. So when it came to the construction of the 2024 US mens national team, the transition from the Cs was damn near seamless.
Jrue started in three of the teams six games as the primary ballhandler, dropping 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals against Serbia in the opening contest. Off the bench, Derrick went 3-3 from downtown and swiped 3 steals against South Sudan. While a surrounding cast of superstars soaked up the spotlight, Derrick and Jrue held down the intangibles in the backcourt.
Everybody was making a big deal about roles and everybodys got to play a little bit differently. But for me and for Jrue, we just kind of played the way we play, just do the same things that we do with Boston, Derrick says of playing in Paris with Team USA. We didnt have to change too much. Obviously, the minutes and everything looked different, but I didnt feel like I had to go in there and be somebody I wasnt or change anything.
Theres a stoic confidence to Derrick White, one that was fully realized by the rest of the Leagues fan bases after being torched again and again by the Parker, CO, native. From Bostons outpouring of appreciation to receiving All-Star chants in San Antoniowhere Derrick spent his first five years in the Llast years campaign was the best of his career: 15.2 points, 5.2 dimes, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1 steal per game. On a ridiculous 39.6 percent shooting from three.
The playoffs were his playground. Thirty-eight against Miami in Game 4 of the opening round. Four blocks on the Pacers in Game 3. Five steals two nights later.
But its the absurd amount of blocks that Jrues consistently amazed by87 of em on the season, to be exact. Go to YouTube and theres a three-and-a-half minute masterclass dedicated solely to rim protection.
Nobody else in the League can do it the same way, Jrue says of Derrick. He blocks shots like a big man. To me, thats amazing. Not only having the talent, the ability, the timing to block a shothes also guarding your best perimeter player, where in this League, its super difficult to guard anyone. To have a backcourt mate like that and know the drop-off isnt there at all, I feel like for other people, its scary, but its exciting to know that every night is going to be a tough night for any team.
Putting on this jersey isnt easy. Theres a lot of pressure that comes with it, Jrue continues. Even the season hes had is a testament to the work hes put in. How he plays, how he came out and played from the beginning of the season, how he ran the team. Even starting us off in Miami, like, the first series. I mean, just cooking. That means a lot to us, but he put in the work.
Theres a common thread throughout the duration of our conversation: Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are unselfish to the core. They cant help but give the other their flowers. This isnt just how they play, this is who they are. Compliments get thrown back and forth like theyre working the perimeter. Theyve earned them. And as the both of them can attest, these are lifelong habits.
I think our parents did a good job of raising us and being able to show us that giving is the way to go, and thats how you, I guess, get happinessby serving other people, Jrue says. I think over time you start to realize that service to other people is very important. For us, I think it just translates to our game. Yeah, Stock Exchange.
The joy theyre looking for doesnt come from posting a career-high. Winning takes care of thatas well as the assists and persistent displays of defensive brilliance that result in 64 regular-season wins and gleaming gold hardware.
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A blend of pride, skill and fearlessness anchors the Celtics two lockdown artists. Sprinting back on D. Poking the ball away on drives. Deflections on the help side. Cutting off the pick-and-roll. Diving for loose balls while chipping teeth. Its a concerted effort of chaotic beauty.
As long as Ive been in the League, its been known that Jrue is the elite of the elite on that end. Just being on this team, you see how guys dont even want to dribble the ball up the court when hes on em. As soon as they see Jrue, its just like, Give it to somebody else, let them figure it out, Derrick says. Playing against him, you really get a deeper appreciation seeing it night in
and night out.
While Derrick had two seasons to get acclimated to playing alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co., Jrue arrived in Boston on the first day of training camp. A handful of weeks remained before the tip of the season, and Derrick was already comfortable running the point. So the two worked through what their version of the Celtics offense would look like. The more reps they got together, the more comfortable they felt.
When we came into training camp, Derrick was so sure of himself at the point guard position that it helped me, Jrue says. I think being able to mirror him from the beginning was great for me. Him being confident and knowing that Im here to run the team and do whatever it takes to win, it just gave me confidence, knowing alright, If I follow him and I follow his direction, Ill be fine.
More often than not, Jrue has been the one leading the direction throughout his career. In Philly, in New Orleans, in Milwaukee, each stop had him running the show as the head honcho of the offense. Then 33 years old, entering a situation that had already been somewhat solidified, Jrues mindset was the same as always: help where hes needed.
Game averages of 12.5 points and 4.8 assists might have been a drop compared to years past, but the game is so much greater than the context stats provide. The work Jrue did this season didnt always show up in the box scoreunlike his career-high 5.4 reboundsbut it more than resonated with the team and the greater Boston area.
This season, I feel like the city of Boston is kind of like how we play. Hard nosed, blue collar, no excuses. Whatever they ask me to do, Im going to do, and I feel like the city of Boston is like that, Jrue says. You should see these fans. Im telling you, literally from the first preseason game to the last game of the season, theyve been there supporting, theyve been there cheering in a way that Ive never seen before. Its like one of the craziest experiences that Ive been a part of. I feel like they appreciate that because [they] understand my game and how I play.
The recognition is shared from Dorchester to the front office, with both Jrue and Derrick signing four-year, nine-figure contract extensions. The best defensive backcourt in the League is back in Boston, and so is the Larry OBrien trophy.
Even though theyre fitted in their green and white Icon threads, an overwhelming amount of gold fills the facility. Light dances off the Olympic Gold medals that dangle from their necks, reflecting off the Finals trophy that they carefully hand to one another. Standing in front of a row of cushioned bleachers, even here the weight of the 18 championship banners that hang in the rafters off to the left can be felt.
Derrick and Jrue know the expectations will be higher next season and theyre embracing it. Theyre leaning even more into the trust that theyve built in the backcourt, and the infamous mentality of head coach Joe Mazzulla.
Right now, were just getting back into it, getting our minds right. Knowing that when the season starts, Joes gonna have us ready to go, Derrick says before Jrue laughs.
Thats for damn sure, he says.
Hes probably more excited than anybody to have a target on our back. Yall heard the quote. Thats legit who he is. Thats the kind of guy you want to play for, Derrick says. Last year was last year. You just got to continue to have that same mindset of getting better, improving and focusing on the things that we do.
Portraits by Marcus Stevens.
