DANVERS, Mass. — Derrick White saw the video too.
He’s also seen it in person at Auerbach Center, Tatum running up and down the court, putting up jump shots and beginning his first basketball works since tearing his Achilles almost five months ago. The video that Tatum and videographer Bred Hampton posted shortly before midnight on Saturday blew up Celtics Twitter, garnered millions views and sent those waking up on Sunday morning into a frenzy. Tatum looked like Tatum.
“I’ve seen the video,” White told CLNS Media on Sunday at his FlexWork basketball camp. “I’ve seen some of the things, because I was there. He looks good. I’m not an expert on Achilles rehab, and where he should be and shouldn’t be, but he looks good and he’s gonna just keep pushing it. He’s always in the rehab or lifting or something, so he’s gonna do everything he can to get back and be stronger and better as ever.”
Tatum will likely address the media on Monday when the Celtics open training camp at Auerbach Center, where 98.5 The Sports Hub noted that Tatum has spent six days per week rehabbing and touted it on a press blitz last week. He stressed he intends to attempt a comeback this season if he reaches 100%, the reason for his extensive efforts. White has tried to support him with his usual levity, cracking jokes and pointing out that Tatum’s motivated for obvious reasons.
Even if Tatum does return at the earliest possible point sometime into 2026, White, Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and the remaining members of the 2024 championship will have to make up for Tatum’s absence, integrate seven new teammates and sustain the team’s success in the meantime. Joe Mazzulla will continue to hold them to a high standard, White believes.
“He’s excited, he doesn’t really need something to have a chip on his shoulder, but everybody kind of doubts us a little bit and it’s exciting for him,” White said. “So I think training camp is gonna be fun for him and fun for us and so it’s gonna be exciting to see what he’s got for us.”
On Thursday, he attended Bill Chisholm’s first press conference as Celtics governor. Then, White spent his final Friday of the offseason at Fenway Park, where the Red Sox clinched the playoffs through injuries, roster turnover and general turbulence. He and Celtics assistant Matt Reynolds took in the action as the Celtics’ biggest baseball fans, and despite a torn allegiance between Colorado and Boston, White expressed confidence in the Sox. Just get in, and anything can happen, he stressed.
That could become a mantra for the Celtics in an open east. The Sixers expressed uncertainty over Joel Embiid and Paul George’s status to begin the year at their media day. The Pacers face a similar situation after Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear, and he will not attempt a comeback. The Heat lost Tyler Herro to foot surgery this month and he’ll miss about eight weeks to start 2025-26. Few east teams appear in the clear, and White like what he’s seen from newcomers Luka Garza, Anfernee Simons and Josh Minott at the facility.
“Obviously, you lose guys that we lost, everybody’s gonna have a certain opinion,” White said. “But (we have) people that are hungry, people that are gonna be competing at a high level. We still got a lot of guys that have won a championship and were still with us, so it’s just a different time, but just know that we’re gonna compete and do everything we can to reach that standard every night.”
Garza, in particular, had a great offseason from White’s vantage point, while he tried to hone his play-making and pick-and-roll skills this offseason in preparation for doing more of that with Tatum out. On Sunday morning, he hosted a FlexWork with roughly 400 kids split between two buildings at St. John’s Prep when more attended the morning sessions than expected. During a break before the afternoon event, where roughly 100-200 more young players arrived to take photos and try to score on White’s modest defensive effort, the final loss of Boston’s offseason became official.
Al Horford signed a multi-year contract with the Warriors, a loss long expected that came on the eve of training camp. Horford played nearly every game since White arrived in Boston, and he’ll now form an almost entirely new rapport with an overhauled center rotation into camp. But White thinks it’ll be fun.
“It’s always tough to see (teammates) go,” White said. “Great guy, great teammate. Lasting memory was probably just what kind of teammate (Horford) was, obviously you win a championship with someone, but he was always supporting me and always had my back throughout everything, so it was tough to see him go, but we always wish him the best of luck and he’s just an amazing, amazing person so I’m always cheering for him.”
“Obviously, it looks a little different, but a lot of guys are coming in and working their tail off, learning, growing each and every day. So it’s been really actually fun to go out there and compete and learn them as people and as players. Every day, someone else does something different that you’re like, ‘this is definitely gonna help us,’ it’s just different.”
