BOSTON – Derrick White’s impact on the defensive end has long stood out. This season, it stood above the rest.
The Boston Celtics guard was named to the 2025-26 NBA All-Defensive First Team on Friday night, earning distinction as the lone backcourt selection among a group dominated by elite frontcourt defenders. White received 88 of a possible 100 votes from the global media panel, including 58 First Team votes, further cementing what has been widely regarded as the strongest defensive campaign of his career.
He was joined on the First Team by San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert. Wembanyama, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, was the only unanimous selection.
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For White, the honor marks his third career All-Defensive nod, following consecutive Second Team selections in 2023 and 2024. This elevation to the First Team reflects a season in which he separated himself dramatically from his positional peers, delivering a campaign so dominant it shattered a long-standing franchise benchmark.
White’s defensive versatility has always been a defining trait, but his production in key areas reached unprecedented levels in 2025-26. He led all guards with 98 blocks and 552 contested shots — totals that didn’t just top the position but distanced him significantly from the rest of the field. His 98 blocks nearly doubled the next-closest guard, Tyrese Maxey (55), while his contest total exceeded Desmond Bane’s second-place mark by 163.
The Celtics guard also recorded 88 steals, becoming the first Celtic since Kevin Garnett during the 2007-08 championship season to post at least 75 steals and 75 blocks in a single year — a remarkable 16-year franchise record.
White’s dominance reached its zenith in February, when he became the first Celtic to earn Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors since the award’s introduction the previous season. During that stretch, he led all Eastern Conference guards in defensive rating (100.0), blocks per game (1.7), and contested shots per game (6.8), while pacing the entire league in defensive win shares (2.6).
Behind his leadership, Boston delivered one of its most dominant defensive months in recent memory, allowing just 98.0 points per game — the lowest mark by any NBA team over the past eight years and eight points better than the next-closest team.
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For the full season, the Celtics finished fourth in the NBA in defensive rating (111.7) and held opponents to the league’s second-lowest field-goal percentage (44.2%), with White serving as a central force in that elite unit.
He wasn’t alone in earning recognition. Neemias Queta (one First Team vote, six Second Team votes) and Jaylen Brown (two First Team votes, three Second Team votes) also received consideration from the media panel.
With this selection, White becomes the 11th player in franchise history to earn All-Defensive First Team honors and the 10th to collect at least three career All-Defensive selections. Once viewed as a high-floor role player, White has now authored a season worthy of legitimate Defensive Player of the Year consideration, transforming from reliable contributor to one of the league’s most irreplaceable two-way forces.
In a year where frontcourt rim protectors dominated the conversation, White proved that elite defense still thrives in the backcourt — and in doing so, delivered one of the most impressive individual defensive seasons in recent Celtics history.