Derrick White talks beer, Bostonians, and a Celtics playoff run

Boston Celtics

“When you wear a Celtic uniform, you are judged on one thing.”

Derek White hails from Colorado.

But the 31-year-old Celtics guard feels more and more like a Bostonian, spending every season playing on the parquet floor of Causeway Street.

Of course, playing a pivotal role in helping the Celtics raise the banner of their coveted 18th championship to the rafters of TD Garden goes a long way toward attracting himself to a sports-obsessed market.

However, it was White’s lunch-pail approach and willingness to sacrifice both his teeth and gaudy stat lines on the scoresheet to help Boston pull out victories that led to Boston embracing the 6-foot-4 guard as one of their own.

On the court, White is the “glue guy” type. Who becomes a fan favorite in a city like Boston. ​

Away from the hardwood, White is doing his part to embrace his new position.

As part of a years-long partnership with Samuel Adams, White dropped his R, hit the U-ey with a duck boat, and took Journey down the infamous “Boston Police Slide.” at City Hall Plaza as an honorary citizen of Boston.

There are still some things Wyatt is getting used to in his adopted home.

“It’s still bad,” White said of traffic on the way to TD Garden on game nights.

But, as he enjoyed the cheers of fans at Banners on Causeway Street on Saturday night, White expressed gratitude for where his basketball journey has taken him.

“The fans do a good job, like knowing the game — it might be a little different than other fan bases,” White told Boston.com on Saturday. “He might not be the one scoring. It might just be little plays, and that’s what I’m trying to do out there. And so I think that’s kind of how we communicate, and we’ve kind of evolved from there.”

White was on hand Saturday to celebrate Sam Adams’ new “Our Town. Our Beer.” Libation Line – With the Celtics guard one of four Boston sports stars who brewed his own drink in his honor.

Three-time Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman (Edel-Brau Lager), former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara (Big Z Pilsner), and Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet (Crochet’s Pale Ale) were on hand at Saturday’s event — handing out cans behind the bar to fans and battling each other in ping pong, Pop-A-Shot, and other arcade games.

“B beer has been around for a little while,” White said of the beer he sells, (Derek) White Isle. “I’ve tried other types. Crochet might be my favorite. But mine is good, and I enjoy it.”

“When Sam Adams asked me what kind of beer I wanted, I said I wanted something bold,” Edelman said of his beer, which leads the four brews with an ABV of 6.2 percent. “I couldn’t be happier with the taste. It’s like the first time I heard the Beatles.”

Chara, who recently hoisted his No. 33 onto the TD Garden ice, took issue with Edelman’s preference.

“I’m the opposite of Jules. I ordered the least amount of alcohol — so I could drink more,” Chara said of the pilsner, which has an ABV of 5.0.

Even if White has admitted on several occasions that he doesn’t drink beer much, he welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with Sam Adams — especially if it allowed him to connect with a fan base that has resonated with his play since he first arrived in Boston in February 2022.

“It’s the best place to play,” White said of what makes Boston unique as a sports city. “Just the fans and the fans. Obviously the teams are really successful, which I think enhances everything as well. It’s great to be a part of that.”

White could cement himself as an icon in this city if he helps propel the Celtics to another title this spring.

Expectations were low heading into the 2025-26 NBA season for Joe Mazzola. Besides the uncertainty of Jayson Tatum’s return this season from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Boston lost several solid players in Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, and Luke Kornet last season in order to ease cap restrictions.

With just four games remaining in the regular season, Boston currently sits in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 53-25 record. With Tatum now back on the court and looking more and more like the franchise player he has been for years, the Celtics are poised to be competitive again in a wide-open conference.

“It was a little different than the last couple of years, but the standard we set as an organization is the same,” White said of the Celtics outperforming expectations. “Everyone we put in there has done so many great things for us, and now we know what’s going to happen, and what’s coming next, and it’s just going to keep getting bigger. We’re going to need everyone.”

The rise of Jaylen Brown as a legitimate MVP candidate and the emergence of several younger players at the bottom of the depth chart played a major role in Boston’s thwarting any shot at this season being a “bridge year.”

But White was quick to praise Mazzola, even as the Boston coach pushed back on the idea Obtaining the Best Coach Award in the NBA In the coming months.

“I think he’s the best coach in the league,” White said of Mazzola. “I don’t know if he needed an award for that, but he always kept us ready. He always believed in us. He always kind of had us ready to go. People had doubts, but he never had any doubts.”

When asked about his favorite memory so far in Boston, White echoed similar sentiments from Edelman and Chara — harping on the hubbub that spills through the streets as duck boats make their way up Boylston Street.

White looks to ease that memory later this summer with a Celtics team that has continued to prove many wrong.

“Obviously we go into the year with a lot of unknowns, a lot of questions, and obviously we exceeded a lot of those expectations,” White said. “But when you wear a Celtic uniform, you’re kind of judged on one thing. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”