Derrick White nearly made history this season, falling two blocks shy of becoming the first NBA player ever with at least 200 3-pointers and 100 blocks in a season.
He’ll have to settle for yet another All-Defense nod.
The Boston Celtics guard was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team for the 2025-26 season Friday. White has made an All-Defensive Team in three of the last four seasons (Second Team in 2023 and 2024) and was the lone Celtics representative on this year’s All-Defense squads.
White is joined by Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Ausar Thompson, and Rudy Gobert on the first team.
While White struggled at times on offense in 2025-26, he maintained his status as an elite defender and the best shot-blocking guard in the NBA. Here are a few eye-opening stats about the 31-year-old’s defensive prowess this season:
- White led all NBA players under 6-foot-7 with 98 blocks. The next-closest player (Andrew Wiggins) had 69.
- White was one of only two players in the NBA (along with Scottie Barnes) to record at least 80 blocks and 80 steals.
- White held opponents to 56.4 percent shooting at the rim this season, ranking 17th in the entire NBA and 1st among non-big men (minimum 200 shots contested).
- White ranked fifth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares, behind only Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama and Ajay Mitchell.
White tallied career highs in both blocks (98) and steals (88) this season while helping the Celtics finish as the NBA’s No. 1 scoring defense, limiting opponents to 107.2 points per game.
“The evolution of his defense has been great,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of White in early January. “This year, going from on-ball to more off-ball where he can impact — whether it’s steals, turnovers, blocks, shifting to recover — he takes pride in learning the game and learning defense.”
White is the first Celtics player to earn an All-Defensive First Team nod since Marcus Smart in 2022. (Smart also won Defensive Player of the Year that year.) Here’s a look at the last five Celtics to make the All-Defensive First Team:
- Derrick White, 2025-26
- Marcus Smart, 2021-22
- Marcus Smart, 2019-20
- Marcus Smart, 2018-19
- Avery Bradley, 2015-16
