He dished them out to his teammates when the Celtics won it all in 2024.
Celtics guard Derrick White rides on a duck boat. Erin Clark/Globe Staff
It was close but no cigar for the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.
No cigar in a figurative sense, as they squandered a 2-1 series lead against the Warriors and watched their title hopes slip away. No cigar in a literal sense, in that they didn’t have a chance to light up the cigars Jaylen Brown gave the team to ignite the run.
After the heartbreaking loss, Celtics guard Derrick White gathered those cigars and held onto them for safekeeping for two years.
“I kept it in my locker from that moment,” White said on the White Noise Podcast. “I was like, ‘When we win, I’m going to give these out.’”
Sure enough, when the Celtics defeated the Mavericks in 2024 to clinch their 18th championship, White was prepared.
“I dug in my locker, like, ‘Look what I got,’” White said.
White said he doesn’t smoke cigars himself, but the moment carried great significance in his eyes from a symbolic standpoint.
After years of buildup and anticipation, the Celtics finally accomplished the ultimate goal.
“We got over that hurdle. We got over that hump,” White said. “This has been a reminder for two years, just sitting in my locker, of coming up short, and now we are successful.”
Trevor Hass is a sports producer for Boston.com, where he writes and edits stories about Boston’s professional teams, among other tasks.
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