Derrick White was ready to celebrate in 2022 if the Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Instead, he watched Steph Curry and the rest of Golden State celebrate an NBA title after winning Game 6 at TD Garden.
White had victory cigars in his locker, but he wasn’t able to use them in 2022.
“Having them celebrate on our court, it didn’t sit right with us," the Celtics guard said on his “White Noise” podcast. “I was like, ‘When we win, I’m going to give these out.’”
White removed the cigars from his locker and held onto them. Two years later, the Celtics found themselves back in the Finals.
Boston went on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks in five games and was able to celebrate on its home court just two years after the heartbreaking loss on the same parquet. White went to his locker and dug out the victory cigars.
“I was giving out cigars,” White said. “I don’t do cigars, but I was just like, ‘You want this?’ It was a cool moment for me.
“We got over that hurdle. We got over that hump,” he later added. “(The cigars) have been a reminder for two years, just sitting in my locker, of coming up short, and now we are successful.”
It’s unclear if more victory cigars will be in the cards for the Celtics. The team will look a lot different in 2025-26 with the trades of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, as well as Jayson Tatum likely missing the entire season due to a torn Achilles.
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