DENVER — The NBA Finals are finally upon us – airing on Denver7 – and one of the key players in the Celtics-Mavericks series has deep Colorado roots.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White hails from the Denver suburb of Parker, where he played high school ball at Legend High School. He played two seasons for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, averaging 24 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for the Mountain Lions.
He was the leading scorer in his one season at the University of Colorado in 2016-17 before being selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. He joined the Celtics in 2022 and is now appearing in his second Finals in three years.
White, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, will meet one of the most talented backcourts in league history in Dallas’s Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Doncic led the NBA in scoring in the regular season and ranks first in points, rebounds, assists and steals in the 2024 postseason. The veteran Irving is one of the game’s best finishers and elite clutch performers.
The Celtics boasted the league’s second-best defensive rating in the regular season (behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Dallas dismissed from the playoffs in a gentleman’s sweep in the west finals) and White said he looks forward to the challenge posed by Doncic and Irving.
“That’s the fun thing about being a guard in the NBA now,” he said. “Every night it’s somebody different and obviously Kyrie and Luka are at the top of that list. This is what you want to play, what you dream about as a kid.”
“It’s the NBA finals, it’s going to be a challenge. We’ve just got to be up for it and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
White averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists this season for a Boston team that finished with the NBA’s best record. He also ranked 15th in individual defensive win shares, an advanced metric that measures a player’s defensive effectiveness.
The Mavericks surged up the Western Conference standings after the trade-deadline deals for forward PJ Washington and center Daniel Gafford helped them hit their stride. They have won 36 of their last 50 games dating back to early February.
Here is the full NBA Finals schedule, with all games airing on Denver7:
- Game 1: Mavericks at Celtics, Thursday, June 6 (6:30 MT)
- Game 2: Mavericks at Celtics, Sunday, June 9 (6 MT)
- Game 3: Celtics at Mavericks, Wednesday, June 12 (6:30 MT)
- Game 4: Celtics at Mavericks, Friday, June 14 (6:30 MT)
- Game 5: Mavericks at Celtics, Monday, June 17 (6:30 MT)*
- Game 6: Celtics at Mavericks, Thursday, June 20 (6:30 MT)*
- Game 7: Mavericks at Celtics, Sunday, June 23 (6 ET)*
*if necessary
