Derrick White is an All-Star (and the most impactful player on the Celtics)

Derrick White is an All-Star.

The Boston Celtics are the best team in the NBA right now. Their 21-6 record tops the league, they’re undefeated at home, and they’ve won eight of their last 10 games. And White has been the most impactful player.

Counting stats are important. Leaders in scoring, rebounding, and assists deserve their due credit, as they are at the forefront of their team’s success. But those aren’t the only stats that measure success. In fact, utilizing them as the primary gauge for an impactful player can be deceivingly inaccurate.

White is fourth on the Celtics in scoring, sixth in rebounding, and first in assists, but his advanced metrics tell a different story.

Twenty-seven games into the season, White leads the Celtics in win shares (3.4). That’s on par with Tyrese Haliburton, Jalen Brunson, and LeBron James and ranks 12th in the NBA.

He leads the Celtics in VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) at 1.6, which slots him next to Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Domantas Sabonis. That mark ranks 14th in the NBA.

White also leads the Celtics in BPM (Box Plus/Minus) at 5.9, which is in the same realm as Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Donovan Mitchell, ranking 13th in the NBA.

And perhaps most impressively, White is fourth in the NBA in total +/- at +222, which is behind only Tyrese Maxey, Embiid, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and better than the likes of Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards, and Paul George.

Going by almost every metric that measures a player’s impact on winning, White is the best player on the Celtics.

Jayson Tatum may average the move points, Jaylen Brown may have improved his playmaking tenfold, Kristaps Porzingis may have changed their offensive game completely, and Jrue Holiday may be an elite two-way force, but when it comes to winning, White has been the most important player.

White is averaging 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists while shooting 49.2% from the field and 42.9% from behind the three-point line – all of which are career-highs. (White shot 61.5% from deep his rookie season but only appeared in 17 games and took 13 total threes.)

However, while All-Star nods can often be a reflection of the three main statistics – points, rebounds, and assists – White’s defensive impact is what separates him from the bulk of other candidates in the East.

The 6-foot-4 guard is averaging 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game (both also career-highs). He has more total steals than Kyle Lowry, Alex Caruso, and Donte DiVincenzo and more total blocks than Jarrett Allen, Onyeka Okongwu, and Mark Williams.

His impact as a perimeter defender is simplified by Boston’s elite defensive lineup that often relies on switching, but White’s presence at the rim is what makes him such a special defensive player.

Of players who play at least 25 minutes per contest and have appeared in at least 15 games, White ranks 11th in defensive rating (108.1), which puts him second on the Celtics behind Al Horford. (He’s also 12th in offensive rating at 121.3 and fourth in net rating at 13.2.)

Despite his elite play on both ends of the court to his clear impact on winning, White’s role on the Celtics is often overshadowed by the scoring and flashiness of Boston’s other stars. But rather than working against him, that should be a point in his favor.

Rather than forcing the issue, White is capable of playing any role the Celtics want him to. He’s a deadly catch-and-shoot guy behind the arc (fifth in the NBA at 44.4% among players with at least 90 attempts). He’s stellar at contorting his body and finishing in the lane (13th among guards with at least 50 attempts within eight feet at 68.3%). Most importantly, he’s one of the most efficient scorers in the league (his 61.8% effective field goal percentage ranks in the 97th percentile among qualified guards).

White is just as comfortable playing off the ball as he is on it, he’s happy acting as the fifth offensive option but capable of being the first, and he’s found a perfect balance of creating for others while also getting his own buckets.

Over the last 10 games, White is averaging 20.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.6 blocks while shooting 53.1% from the field and 48.1% from behind the three-point line. This stretch includes two 30-point games, an additional two 20-point games, four games with at least seven assists, and three games with at least three blocks (his last three).

The Celtics are 8-2 in those games.

Photo by Maddie Schroeder/Getty Images

But all the stats in the world can’t replace the eye test of watching White impact the game in real time.

On this play against the New York Knicks, after Tatum’s missed three, White jumps Josh Hart, steals the ball, and earns the Celtics an extra possession.

In the box score, this was just another steal, but watching the game, it was crucial. At the time, the Knicks had cut a 13-point Celtics lead down to seven in the span of two minutes. Had they gotten out in transition, they could have maintained their momentum and cut further into the lead. Instead, White got the steal.

He then missed a three, came up with his own rebound, and drove the lane for two points. After a stop, White then drove down the floor, drew a foul, and nailed two free throws to extend the Celtics’ lead comfortably back out to 11. New York didn’t get within nine points for the rest of the game.

Then there was his highlight reel night against the Miami Heat on October 27. The Celtics and Heat were locked in a back-and-forth battle in the fourth, and Boston had finally extended their lead out to eight, with a Jimmy Butler free-throw pushing it back down to seven.

Jimmy Butler got the ball after a Brown miss and was pushing in transition. But White was there to meet him.

It was White’s third block of the night, all of which were against Butler and two of which came in the same rundown fashion. Boston went on to win the game by eight, with White scoring or assisting on four of their last 10 points.

And here, against the Toronto Raptors, White didn’t need to do anything more than play his role, nailing a three in the closing moments to help seal a win.

Boston and Toronto had been battling for the entirety of the fourth quarter, but with 27 seconds to go, White nailed a go-ahead three, giving the Celtics a lead they would keep for the remainder of the contest.

Photo by Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Tatum is going to be an All-Star this year. He’s reached the point in his career where his reputation, talent, and popularity will all but guarantee him a spot in the starting five by way of the fan, player, and media voting. But the coaches choose the bench unit.

At most, the East can have six guards on the team. The starting lineup is made up of two backcourt players and three frontcourt players, the bench is the same format, and then there are two wild card spots that can be any position.

Damian Lillard, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, and Jalen Brunson will likely be no-brainer selections. In the frontcourt, the same can be said for Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid. That’s seven slots already filled and four backcourt spots gone.

Three of Brown, Porzingis, Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam, and Mikal Bridges will likely get the other guaranteed frontcourt spots. That leaves the rest of them, Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, and DeMar DeRozan, among others, to compete with White for a spot.

Most of those players put up better raw numbers than White. Their bigger focal points within their teams’ offenses and have the reputation of having made past All-Star games. But few have been as impactful as White.

Winning players have gotten All-Star nods in the past despite not putting up league-breaking stats. Draymond Green on the 2021-22 Golden State Warriors. Mike Conley on the 2020-21 Utah Jazz. Al Horford on the 2017-18 Celtics. Jeff Teague on the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks. The commonality? An impact on winning.

The seventh-year guard has transcended the mold of an NBA role player. He’s blown by the disrespect of not being named to ESPN’s Top 100 list. He’s transformed his game to fit in with one of the best rosters in the league, and he’s still averaging career-highs across the board, including minutes per game (32.6). Every number, statistic, and advanced metric shows him to be the most effective player on the Celtics.

White has impacted winning more than anyone else on the Celtics, who are the best team in the NBA. The best team in the NBA should have multiple All-Stars on the roster. White needs to be one of those players.