Derrick White lost his joy. His Celtics teammates helped him find it.

BOSTON — On a chilly Wednesday night in Toronto, Derrick White realized he simply didn’t feel like himself.

That same night, the Celtics suffered what was perhaps their worst loss of the season, a 110-97 defeat at the hands of the Raptors — one of the league’s weakest teams at the time.

White had one of his worst games as a Celtic, finishing with 6 points on 2-9 shooting and a team-worst +/- of -29 in an uncharacteristically low 21 minutes on the floor.

White wasn’t used to struggling; he had been on a steep upward trajectory since Joe Mazzulla took over as coach, between his All-Star caliber 2023-24 season and the ensuing NBA championship.

But, in his 8th season as a pro, something just felt different.

“I was going into the arena, and just didn’t have the same amount of joy,” he admitted at practice on Saturday.

The typically jubilant side of Derrick White is palpable. It’s one of the most noticeable aspects of the Celtics behind the scenes.

Just for fun, White concludes every practice with a lengthy trick shot competition with the assistant coaches. He’s constantly cracking jokes and teasing his teammates. When he’s really feeling it, after hitting a deep one from behind the arc, he playfully searches his pocket for another three-pointer.

Though he’s usually pretty reserved at the podium, White is oftentimes the chattiest in the locker room.

Last year, during the NBA Finals, multiple Celtics players told CelticsBlog he was unequivocally one of the funniest players on the team; the more time you spend around the 30-year-old guard, the more noticeable his upbeat personality is.

“That’s when I’m at my best — when I’m having fun and my energy is high,” White said.

For a moment, however, it just wasn’t there.

Derrick White’s struggles coincided with the Celtics’ slide

From December 7th to January 23rd, the Celtics recorded a 12-9 record, one of their worst stretches in recent years.

In that span, White averaged 13.9 points and shot 40.9% from the field, substantially below his pre-slump averages of 18.4 points on 47.8% shooting.

Those numbers don’t necessarily jump out. Every NBA player goes through a segment of the season that is less efficient than their norm.

Still, they were taking a toll.

After a Dec. 29 loss to the Pacers, White was candid about the team’s struggles, going so far as to say it was the most difficult stint of his Celtics tenure.

“I think this might be the toughest stretch that I’ve been on since I’ve been here with the Celtics,” he said.

It was a couple of things all at once. With Kristaps Porzingis back in the lineup, White’s shot attempts were down. And, even when he had good looks, he “shot like crap,” he proclaimed. At the same time, he began making some uncharacteristic mistakes on the court that had nothing to do with shooting, like fouling three-point shooters on numerous occasions.

“During that time when I wasn’t playing well, it kind of just all combined,” White said. “Probably why I wasn’t playing well.”

Jayson Tatum, one of White’s closest friends on the team, remembers those couple of weeks vividly.

“I remember that stretch — and everybody felt for him because he’s such a great person and, obviously, a great player,” Tatum said. “You see firsthand how hard guys work, and how bad they want things to go the right way.”

Jaylen Brown, one of the Celtics’ most vocal leaders, had a clear message for White at the time: focus on the things that you can control.

“The only thing that we need for you, regardless, is to play defense,” Brown said, recalling his message to his teammate during that stretch.

Derrick White’s joy is back, and the Celtics are winning again

White’s shooting numbers are way back up. This month, he’s averaging 16.8 points and shooting 50% from the field, including 45.5% from three.

The Celtics’ success — so closely correlated with White’s individual performance — has followed. They’ve won 10 of the last 11 games the 6’4 guard has played, and have improved to a 41-16 record.

On Sunday against the Knicks, White played with the same free-flowing confidence that has made him one of the most pivotal players on the Celtics since he was acquired in 2022.

In the fourth quarter, with New York crawling back into the game after trailing by as many as 27, he went a perfect 3-3 from three, matching each of the Knicks’ big shots with ones of his own.

Kristaps Porzingis grinned when asked about White’s performance.

“One thing I love about him, he always hits big shots,” Porzingis said. “He has this in his blood.”

Mazzulla agrees.

“When he’s at his best, he plays carefree, he makes big shots like he did tonight, and he just defends at a super high level,” Mazzulla said.

Joe Mazzulla believes White’s struggles were inevitable

Joe Mazzulla has maintained he’s glad that the Celtics as a team went through a more difficult stretch earlier in the season. He holds that same positive perspective for the struggles of his star point guard.

“You have to go through that. I’m glad he went through it,” Mazzulla said. “It was important for his growth. It was important for us to see him struggle — because it shows how much we need him, and it’s important for him to fight for that confidence.”

Mazzulla also explained why he thinks White went through the stretch that he did.

“As you become a better player, which he’s done since he’s gotten here and with the success that he’s had, the expectations rise,” he said. “And when the expectations rise, it’s easy for the joy to be robbed, and that’s just kind of the natural ebbs and flow of a career.”

White doesn’t know exactly when the joy returned. He jokes that he simply had to tell himself to “just knock it off.”

But, after the Toronto loss, he worked intentionally to shift his outlook.

“From that point on, I’m trying to [accept that] making shots, missing shots is part of the game,” White said. “But [I’ve been] trying to have that right energy and mindset, and it’s been better since then.”

And, while he worked to regain his mojo, he had his teammates’ full support.

“Me and D-White are super close, and I tell him every day to be aggressive,” Tatum said. “We’re always in communication during the game just talking through things. We obviously wouldn’t be who we are without D-White. Him finding his joy is super important to our success.”

Tatum and Brown have both been there before — the two perennial All-Stars have gone through their own slumps, and they’ve also had to fight to reach continuously rising expectations.

“It’s not always perfect, and you wish it would be, but that’s our job as teammates: to keep him encouraged, keep his confidence high, because we need him,” Tatum said.

At practice Saturday, White howled during his trick shot competition with the assistants, a grin pasted across his face.

The next day, he posted a quintessential D-White stat line: 19 points on 7-10 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.

In turn, the Celtics routed their division rival.

“He’s one of the best point guards in the league,” Mazzulla said. “When he plays like that, we’re a different team.”