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Inside The Celtics

Derrick White Becomes Second-Straight Celtic to Win Player-Voted NBA Award

White is up for multiple awards this season, as one of his Boston Celtics teammates and Head Coach Joe Mazzulla
John Karalis|
Apr 9, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) smiles as he warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
Apr 9, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) smiles as he warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images | Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

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Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics are up for a few postseason awards, with Joe Mazzulla a finalist for Coach of the Year, Jaylen Brown expected to make an All-NBA team, Derrick White likely to make the All-Defensive team, and Jayson Tatum up for Teammate of the Year. 

Those haven't been awarded yet, but a few of the postseason honors have been trickling out. White finished sixth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, with Victor Wembanyama winning the award unanimously this week. But White did just pick up an award on Thursday. 

The NBA announced White has won the Sportsmanship Award, in a tight race over Indiana’s TJ McConnell. 

Derrick White Sportsmanship Award
NBA

This is an award voted on by NBA players. McConnell actually got more first place votes (83) than White (77), but White piled up 113 second place votes to power himself to the winning point total. 

Sportsmanship Award Voting Results
NBA

Here’s how the voting works, according to the NBA: 

“Each NBA team nominated one of its players for the 2025-26 NBA Sportsmanship Award.  From the 30 team nominees, a panel of league executives selected six finalists (one from each NBA division).  Current NBA players then voted to select the winner from those finalists.” 

This is the second-straight season a Celtic has won the award. Jrue Holiday won it last season. 

White is very likely to make one of the All-Defensive teams, especially considering he was the top guard vote-getter in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. He ranked third in defensive win shares (11.9) this season, second amongst guards in blocks per game (1.3), and led all guards in contested shots (550). He’s also one of only two players with 80 steals and 80 blocks this season (along with Harrison Barnes), and the first Celtic to record 75 steals and 75 blocks since Kevin Garnett in 2008. 

The NBA will announce the Most Improved Player award tomorrow, but to Celtics fans’ dismay, Neemias Queta is not one of the finalists. That award will go to either Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks, Jalen Duren of the Detroit Pistons, or Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Mazzulla is considered the favorite for Coach of the Year, but JB Bickerstaff of the Pistons won the Coaches Association Coach of the Year award, and historically that winner has also won the league’s version of the award. Bickerstaff took over at NBCA President this season, succeeding long-time President Rick Carlisle. 

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John Karalis
JOHN KARALIS

John Karalis is a 20-year veteran of Celtics coverage and was nominated for NSMA's Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016 and has written two books about the Celtics. John was born and raised in Pawtucket, RI. He graduated from Shea High School in Pawtucket, where he played football, soccer, baseball, and basketball and was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. John graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of their Gold Key Honor Society. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain of the Men’s Basketball team, and remains one of the school's top all-time scorers, and Emerson's all-time leading rebounder. He is also the first Emerson College player to play professional basketball (Greece). John started his career in television, producing and creating shows since 1997. He spent nine years at WBZ, launching two different news and lifestyle shows before ascending to Executive Producer and Managing Editor. He then went to New York, where he was a producer and reporter until 2018. John is one of Boston’s original Celtics bloggers, creating RedsArmy.com in 2006. In 2018, John joined the Celtics beat full-time for MassLive.com and then went to Boston Sports Journal in 2021, where he covered the Celtics for five years. He has hosted the Locked On Celtics podcast since 2016, and it currently ranks as the #1 Boston Celtics podcast on iTunes and Spotify rankings. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Locked on NBA podcast.

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