Celtics’ Derrick White should be NBA All-Star, opposing coach says

The Celtics are guaranteed to have at least one representative in the 2026 NBA All-Star Game after Jaylen Brown was voted an Eastern Conference starter.

Rick Carlisle believes Derrick White should join Brown in Los Angeles.

The Indiana Pacers head coach raved about the veteran Celtics guard before Wednesday’s game at TD Garden.

“Derrick White’s an All-Star,” Carlisle said. “He’s an All-Star player. The guy’s eighth in the league in blocked shots, and he’s such an important part of their team. Their team is playing very well.”

White, who’s never made an All-Star Game, looks like a long shot after ranking 20th among Eastern Conference players in voting, which combines the results of fan, player and media ballots. All-Star reserves are selected by NBA coaches, however, and several have called White one of the league’s most underrated players this season.

The ninth-year pro is the only NBA player with at least 50 steals and 60 blocks during the 2025-26 campaign, and he’s on pace for career highs in points (17.7 per game), assists (5.4) and rebounds (4.6).

White began the season with a prolonged shooting slump, however, and those issues recently resurfaced. After scoring double-digit points in 36 of his first 38 games, he was held to eight, seven and four points in his last three contests entering Wednesday’s Pacers clash. In Monday’s 104-103 loss at Detroit, he went 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Overall, White is shooting 39.1% and 32.4% from deep this season, which would be the worst and second-worst marks of his career, respectively.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked pregame whether the Celtics’ staff had worked with White on methods for shaking his slump.

“If anyone is struggling, it has just as much to do with the staff as it does the player,” Mazzulla said. “So we’re always looking for opportunities to be able to impact that, and you just figure out ways to get better together.”

Brown (five times) and the injured Jayson Tatum (six) are the only current Celtics with All-Star selections on their resumes. This year’s event is scheduled for Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome.

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