NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Celtics guard Derrick White was named to the 2025-26 NBA All-Defensive first team. White, who led all guards in contested shots (552) and blocks per game (1.3) this season, earns his first career All-Defensive First Team honor and becomes the 11th Celtic in franchise history to be named to an All-Defensive starting five.
An All-Defensive second team selection in 2022-23 and 2023-24, White tallied 37 games this season with at least one steal and one block, ranking first among all guards. The 2025-26 NBA Sportsmanship Award recipient ranked third in the NBA in defensive win shares (11.9) and was a combined +598 on the season, ranking fourth in the NBA. White became one of two Celtics guards in franchise history (Reggie Lewis) to tally at least 75 blocks and 75 steals in a single season.
White, a key member of the 2024 Celtics NBA championship team, averaged a career-high 16.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, a career-high 5.4 assists, a career-high 1.1 steals, and a career-high 1.3 blocks per game this season. In his fifth season with Boston, the 31-year-old anchored a Celtics defense that ranked second in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage (44.2%) and fourth in defensive rating (111.7). He finished the season by posting a 39.5% defensive field goal percentage in the 2026 playoffs, ranking fifth among players with at least 100 attempts against.
White is just one of 17 Celtics players to be named to an All-NBA Defensive team. A global media panel of 100 voters selected the Kia NBA All-Defensive teams. Voters selected five players to the first team and five players to the second team regardless of position. Players received two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. White earned first team honors after receiving 58 first place votes and 30 second place votes.