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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Derrick White was planning on spending this week at a desert resort on the sea. But he was supposed to be in Cabo facing the Pacific Ocean on a family vacation, not in Abu Dhabi on the Arabian Gulf back competing in high-level basketball.
But that’s where White is after joining Team USA for his first practice Sunday, arriving at 2:30 a.m. after a long flight from the U.S. Team officials had called him in four days earlier to replace Kawhi Leonard, who continues to recover from a knee injury.
White knew he was a top candidate to get a replacement spot on the team, but had stood down somewhat after Leonard reported to training camp and was going through practices.
“I kind of figured it out when everybody else figured out when (ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski) tweeted it, and then me and my agent were talking about it a little bit through the summer,” White said. “But I had assumed that Kawhi was going to continue. But then when I seen all that happened and I got the call, I was ready to go.”
White got the call up while he was in his hometown of Parker, Colorado, outside of Denver conducting his annual basketball camp. He’d been taking some time off after helping the Boston Celtics win the NBA title last month and agreeing to a four-year, $126 million contract extension at the beginning of this month.
But he does have some experience like this in the past. In 2019, White was a last-minute call-up to the senior team for the World Cup in China. He’d been playing on the Select Team that summer and got the last roster spot.
That choice was somewhat controversial at the time when White was young and unheralded as a role player on the San Antonio Spurs. After he was elevated to the senior roster from the backup Select Team that year, higher profile guards De’Aaron Fox and Trae Young left Team USA with Young citing an eye injury when it became apparent White might get the spot over them.
An All-Defense team member and NBA champion with a nine-figure contract, White’s profile is now much higher. Though there was again some controversy when he was Team USA’s pick for injury replacement over Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown among others.
“It was crazy (in 2019) going from the Select Team to the World Cup team and I just think now I’ve just continued to get better and better and so feel much more comfortable,” White said. “I feel (now) like I did back then and I’m just excited to be here.”
White’s versatility defensively is seen as a plus by Team USA decision makers as is his ability to act as a backup to Celtics teammate Jrue Holiday. Teams in the Olympics, generally, are built around star guards or star big men and not as much as star wing players as is common in the NBA. That is why Holiday was a huge recruit for Team USA both for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and again this year. And why White, who has the ability to stick with guards or guard bigger wing players like Holiday, was always on the team’s short list.
White’s ability to play wing in addition to defending the guards remains a key element as coach Steve Kerr announced Sunday that forward Kevin Durant would miss their exhibition game Monday against Australia. Durant again didn’t have contact at practice Sunday and worked on rehab for his strained calf and shooting drills. He remains day to day.
As for White, he spent time before practice with Celtics teammates Holiday and Jayson Tatum and former team advisor Jeff Van Gundy, an assistant with Team USA, catching up.
“I haven’t seen D-White since the parade, so excited to have him here,” Tatum said. “He’ll bring some championship DNA to this team.”