Derrick White dishes on Celtics’ playoff prep, All-Defense hopes, Samuel Adams

The Celtics at this time are enjoying a weeklong layoff before their first-round NBA playoff series tips off this Sunday During that break veteran guard Derrick White sat down with the Herald to discuss Boston s bid for back-to-back championships his incident for the All-Defensive first squad his rare preparation for his first pitch at Fenway Park and his latest collaboration with Samuel Adams which disclosed a line of White-themed merchandise on Tuesday Q What s the mindset within the squad with the playoffs now here White Everybody s super excited This is the best time of the year and what we prepare for the whole season so it s a lot of fun I feel like this week s going to take forever but everybody s looking forward to it What lessons from last year s championship run can you apply to this postseason I think just all that experience is unfailingly beneficial I feel like we ve had a lot of different series and a lot of different methods to win so that experience will be definitely beneficial And I think just understanding that whatever it takes is what it takes and never having a set mind that we need to win this series in five or whatever Just doing whatever it takes to win and move on How much has that experience and continuity with last season s entire playoff rotation still intact helped the company this season especially during the Celtics winter slump - record from Dec to Jan It s been big Especially when you go into those tough times just knowing that you can trust the guy next to you We just have so much fun and we enjoy each other s company So when times are going to be tough there s going to be ups and downs throughout the whole season we just trust one another and it s inevitably great suiting up with the guys we ve got Related Articles Celtics playoff schedule Date disclosed for first-round opener Why Celtics Payton Pritchard believes he deserves Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard Celtics backups beat Hornets to close out regular season Joe Mazzulla confident Jaylen Brown will be ready for playoffs JD Davison s prayers answered with promotion to Celtics roster After last year s long playoff run followed by the Olympics you played in all but four of the Celtics games this season with two of your DNPs coming in the final week Did you change anything about your approach to ensure you stayed healthy and available Not really I just kind of stayed on the go kind of never really got out of shape or anything like that So just stayed consistent with it and just tried to work on our routines and the things that I need to do I think I ve been doing a pretty good job of just trying to be consistent with everything so I m able to play and able to help us win games I don t think I changed too much from year to year Just trying to be consistent with my routine You made the All-Defensive second squad in each of the last two seasons Is first-team All-Defense a goal of yours White was one of three NBA players along with Memphis Jaren Jackson Jr and Houston s Amen Thompson to record -plus steals and -plus blocks this season Not really That s kind of out of my control I m just trying to go and help us win and if I get it that would be awesome If I don t it s still OK So I wouldn t say it s a goal of mine Just trying to go out there and compete and have fun doing it How did you prepare for your first pitch at Fenway Park last week That was really cool I ve consistently sought to throw out a first pitch and to do it in Fenway it was amazing But I threw the baseball on the side of the field before I went out there and I do this baseball competition with one of our strength coaches before every shootaround So it wasn t crazy that I was throwing a ball but being on a mound was a little bit different What does that baseball match look like A lot of different things We ve got an accuracy challenge like who can hit a certain spot And then we ve got a pick em challenge where you throw it and they ve got to scoop it Just a bunch of fun games He brings the glove everywhere on the road and obviously at home How did your connection with Samuel Adams come together and what s been the reaction to it I think the partnership has really taken off I ve had a lot of fun with it It started with that first commercial going full Boston with my cousin It just got a lot of love from the whole city of Boston and I think it s just a fun way to be connected with the city And then from there it s just been a lot of fun I never thought I d be on a beer before The partnership has been amazing and I m super excited for the launch on Tuesday I just love everything about it