The Boston Celtics are once again in the NBA Finals, and while they’re awaiting their opponent between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves, there’s already some discourse happening about who the best remaining players are in the postseason.
During an appearance on The Pivot podcast, New York Knicks guard Josh Hart had an interesting take on the conversation when listing his top five players still playing in the postseason.
“I might put — just like impactful, I might put Derrick White more impactful than [Jayson Tatum],” Hart said.
That statement alone is likely to raise some eyebrows, and surely it made the rounds on social media as many criticized Hart’s statement. But the Knicks guard elaborated on his reasoning for having White ahead of Tatum on that list.
“Look at every main play in the last six minutes of the fourth to overtime, every big play, he made,” Hart said. “He’s probably one of the most impactful players because he does just everything on the court, and does everything at a very high level.”
And while those on social media were quick to ridicule Hart’s comments, he does have a point. White’s constantly making hustle plays for the Celtics, and he’s capable of doing whatever you need him to do at a high level. You need him to knock down a clutch 3-pointer, no problem he’s making 3s at a 40.7% clip in the postseason. His 17.8 points in Boston’s playoff run are not just a career high in the playoffs for him but a career high including the regular season as well. You need him to get a block, easy, he’s racked up 18 already this postseason. That’s fifth most of anyone in the playoffs, and every guy ranked above him is a at least 6’10, while White stands at 6’4. White’s been so important to Boston’s success this season, and while it may seem like Hart’s comments are a jab at Tatum, they’re not. He even said as much on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Y’all realize saying something is more impactful isn’t belittling the other guy right? Leave me out this “desire to belittle JT” narrative,” Hart shared on Twitter.
No one, including Hart, is denying Tatum’s brilliance. Everything starts with his ability to score at will for the Celtics. But every team wishes they had someone like White on their team. He’s the Swiss army knife that wins you championships, and luckily for the Celtics they have two in White and Jrue Holiday. We’ll have to see if this is the year that Boston wins its first championship since 2008, but with someone like White in tow, their chances are certainly high regardless of who their opponent ends up being.
