Derrick White is one of the league’s best defensive players and best shot-blockers. Period. Not just for guards. Not just in certain circumstances. White is one of the best of the best.
“He really disrupts you, defensively,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said after losing to Boston last week. Atkinson had called White a top-five player in the league, explaining “He’s an elite rim protector. Probably the best guard rim protector in the league. So take all those things and put it in there with the shooting, and you’ve got a great player.”
He’s 12th overall in blocked shots per game, 10th overall in total blocks, and first among all guards (depending on how you classify Scottie Barnes, who is officially a combo guard/forward, and has 10 more blocks this season).
No matter how you slice it, White is an elite defender. Considering his frame, 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, it’s kind of amazing that he has the impact that he has. On his recent podcast, White Noise, he explained the secret to his shot-blocking.
“I’m a quick jumper,” White said. “I definitely don’t jump the highest on the team, but I think I jump the quickest on the team, so I think that's kind of my biggest advantage.”
But there's more to it. There's an instinct to understanding when a shot is going up and how to time things when one does.
According to White, it all started on a Nerf hoop.
“I do remember playing a lot of little hoop,” White said. “We’d make a rule, no dunking, and I was really good at blocking shots. So maybe just doing that with my dad? Like on the little Nerf hoop on top of the door?”
White said he made the rule when playing against his dad because otherwise the game wouldn’t be any fun. But the shot-blocking ability started to translate to playing outside with friends.
“Even when they put the small hoop, like in the front yard, you put the hoop down low, me and my boy, Phil, we used to go out there and get after it,” White said. “That one you could dunk, but every time he shot a layup, I would block it. And so, I don't know, my timing has always just kind of been there.”
Even if that's the case, it took a while for White to really lean into his shot-blocking abilities. He wasn’t a shot-blocker in high school, and in college a lot of what might be considered a block in the NBA was considered a steal. When a player starts his gather, it’s considered a shot attempt, so when a player slaps down on the ball, even during that gather, it goes down as a blocked shot.
All of these were blocks for White:
pic.twitter.com/NBy4lcnPSg
— John Karalis (@JohnKaralisClip) March 16, 2026
So that helps pump up the totals a little bit, but no matter how you categorize it, it’s still a great defensive play. When you combine steals and blocks (stocks, as they're called), White is still sixth in the league.
You can watch the full White Noise podcast here:
White was honored with the Defensive Player of the Month award for December. White has made two All-Defensive teams, earning second-team honors in the 2022-’23 and ‘23-’24 seasons. He’s also appeared in the top-10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting twice. All of these have happened since coming to Boston.