Derrick White Has a Perfect Response For Not Making The All-Star Team

The Boston Celtics star has had a tough shooting season, which probably kept him off the All-Star team, but his response to being left off is a really good one.

Feb 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Derrick White is enjoying his All-Star break, taking a few days to get off his feet, see his family, and get energized for the back-end of the Celtics schedule and a playoff run that may or may not include Jayson Tatum.

There was a chance White’s break would have taken him to Los Angeles with teammate Jaylen Brown to participate in the All-Star game. He started slow offensively this season but picked it up in December, when he averaged 22.3 points on 45% overall shooting and 38.2% from three, easily his best shooting month of the season. Notable media voices, like Zach Lowe of the Ringer, were publicly making the case for White to make his first trip to the game.

And then January happened.

He shot 26% from three and averaged just 14.7 points per game for the month. January is historically White’s worst shooting month, averaging 33.7% from three over nearly nine full seasons.

“Obviously, this year has been kind of crazy and not shooting the way that I wanted to,” White said on the latest edition of his White Noise podcast with Alex Welsh. “I feel like I've done a pretty good job of keeping a positive mindset and doing other things to help the team win. And if I shot it the way I know I'm capable of, I probably would be [an All-Star].”

The tough shooting can be chalked up to a significant change in his offensive role without Jayson Tatum.

According to Synergy Sports Data, White is the pick-and-roll ball handler 34.6% of his time on the floor, and he spots up 24.8% of the time this season. That is a complete flip from last season, where he spotted up 34.1% of the time and was the pick-and-roll ball handler for 22.8%.

His point production in pick-and-rolls is about the same, .954 points per possession versus .964 last season. But the spot-ups have dropped to .940 from 1.288.

But White knows what he’s good at, and while he won’t say it publicly, his podcast partner (and former teammate and best friend) Welsh shared White’s response to not making the All-Star team.

“You said something cool in our group text,” Welsh said on the show. “We were all voicing our opinions, and again, it's not a knock on anybody that made it. It's just the feeling of our guy being snubbed, some may say, but you said, I think it was, ‘I don't have All-Star numbers, just All-Star impact.’”

The numbers back him up. According to Cleaning the Glass, they're 9.5 points per 100 possessions better with White on the floor, mostly because he supercharges their defense and he’s a clutch fourth-quarter performer. His bosses know how important he is, too.

“Everybody's going to focus on his shooting, but every time he's on the court, we win by a lot,” Brad Stevens said earlier this month.

Tatum’s eventual return might help snap everything back into place for White. So while a trip to the All-Star game would certainly have been a nice honor, a deep playoff run with White’s “All-Star impact” would make fans much happier.