Derrick White’s confidence comes from comfort and consistent work, and he’s looking more comfortable and confident than ever during his best NBA season to date.

It took a little while to get there, though.

“Well, that was kind of tricky, because Derrick is very much a human being,” Marcus Mason, owner of Nothing But Net Elite Basketball Coaching, said on Monday. “He’s very much an original person. What I’ve experienced with him is whenever he has change, he always starts out a little bit slow.”

Mason, who’s trained White since the Celtics guard was in middle school, has seen his star pupil go through plenty of changes over the last 16 years, developing from an unrecruited high school player at Parker’s Legend High School to a possible All-Star in his seventh NBA season. In the last round of the fan voting, White was seventh among Eastern Conference guards trailing the likes of Tyrese Haliburton, Trae Young, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey and Jalen Brunson.

“From my eyes, he was a very average basketball player,” Mason said of his initial scouting report on White. “He had good work ethic, was a great listener, but he was definitely very slight in size and didn’t have great athleticism. … He’s a very fast learner is what I picked up from him. But he was just so small and just didn’t have great speed or great athleticism to be super productive at that time.”

It took Jeff Culver taking the job at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs for White to get a chance to be a Division-II player. A growth spurt took him from 6-foot closer to the 6-foot-4 he’s listed at today. And he started putting up staggering numbers. He was Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and two-time All-American for the Mountain Lions.

“I definitely heard about him and his journey. It was cool to hear about it. It was like ‘Yo, there’s this kid averaging 40 at the college right near my high school,’” Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson, who went to Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, said.

“I’ve just been following him his whole career. He’s been playing phenomenal this year for Boston.”

Culver said he started getting calls from NBA teams during White’s sophomore season. Teams quickly came to appreciate his size as a guard, ability to play on and off the ball and defend multiple positions.

“Nothing he’s doing right now is surprising us. It’s just great to see him shooting with confidence again,” Culver said Sunday.

“The shot was the one thing that was lacking consistency early in his collegiate career. … Now, he’s shooting with confidence at the pro level. It’s pretty cool to see. He’s in his bag right now, and it’s fun to watch.”

A transfer to Colorado for his final season of college basketball helped him increase his draft prospects, and the unlikely became reality when Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs selected White with the 29th overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. The leap from D-II ball to the league in the span of a couple of years proved to be the biggest change. Once he settled in with the Spurs, the Celtics sent a first-round pick, a future pick swap and two players to San Antonio to acquire White.

“He’s one of the great examples of working through it. He played in the G League a couple of years, didn’t even think he belonged in the league, … but he worked his fanny off,” Popovich said on Jan. 17.

“It’s never stopped. He’s gotten better every single year whether it’s shooting or understanding pick and roll. He could always pass really well. He had a good affinity for passing. He had good sense of space defensively and how to get those things done, but it was mostly a matter a confidence. It took time, but he got there. And then when he got here (Boston), playing with the guys he’s playing with, he took another step. I couldn’t be more thrilled for him.”

The work has been a constant amid the ever-increasing level of competition. Mason remembers White missing just one of their estimated 1,000 workouts together over the years.

“He’s going to get better no matter what,” Mason said. “He’s going to catch guys that are in front of him because he just doesn’t take vacations. He doesn’t take long weekends. He doesn’t miss Saturdays. He just doesn’t miss.”

Headed into Monday’s game at Dallas, White was averaging a career-best 16.2 points per game. His 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals are also the best marks of his career, while the 41.1% from 3-point range, on nearly seven attempts per game, is the best he’s shot it since he took limited attempts in 17 games as a rookie. The two fan bases that know him best have shown their appreciation for what he’s become in recent weeks. The San Antonio crowd chanted “White’s an All-Star,” during Boston’s win on Dec. 31.

“In high school, I was like ‘Let me try to get to college.’ It’s just kind of a little different story, I guess. (Popovich) just kept pushing me, and he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” White said after the game.

“That allowed me to figure out the NBA game, and then from there, (he) just continued to push me and add that confidence.”

Friday in Boston, Celtics fans chanted “M-V-P” after White drove past Jamal Murray and finished through a Michael Porter Jr. foul. The Nuggets became the first team to beat Boston at home, but White led the Celtics with 24 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block against his hometown team.

“I just try to go out there and try and help us win. I think, if I was to make an All-Star Game, it’s because of how much we’re winning, and the type of team we have. I’m just thankful to be part of this team and this organization,” White said after Boston’s game in San Antonio. “Me making it or not making it doesn’t change the fact that I’m just thankful to be here.”

Whether or not White ends up a first-time All-Star, he’s feeling confident and comfortable with his place in the league. That doesn’t mean the work is going to stop any time soon.

“My rookie year, I’m just trying to figure it out,” White said.

“Now, I just feel more comfortable. Like, I know I belong in this league. I know what I can do in this league. I just got to continue to improve.”

What I’m Reading

There’s been a lot of talk – negative and then positive – about the Rudy Gobert trade in Minnesota, but Associated Press sportswriter Dave Campbell took a look at another Tim Connelly trade that has played a large part in Minnesota’s surge to the top of the Western Conference. Last February, the Timberwolves acquired Mike Conley in a three-team trade with the Jazz and Lakers, and his steady, unselfish hand has helped Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert elevate their games.

What They’re Saying

“I feel like we don’t have as big of AAU programs. We don’t have much scouting out here. Shoot, I remember I only played one year of AAU, so kind of figuring out how the whole thing happens, the scene goes, I was very fortunate to get the recruitment offers I got, but, yeah, AAU’s become the whole thing of recruiting,” Nuggets guard Reggie Jackson said of the challenges high school basketball players from Colorado face. “Some states probably have a little more where you still get some (recruiting) play from high school.”

“It certainly has helped us with recruiting. I think it’s helped with campus pride, school spirit as well. You’ve got a lot of alums that are chesting out their UCCS colors a little more,” Culver said of White’s impact on UCCS. “Obviously, when they see Derrick rocking the UCCS lid on social media or national TV, it’s certainly helped in a number of ways.”

The List

Bruce Brown could me on the move to a contender after Indiana traded him to Toronto. There are the five scariest destinations for Nuggets fans.

1. Lakers

Brown was reportedly close to signing with the Lakers as a free agent last summer before he accepted Indiana’s $45-million offer. If he teamed up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles and helped the Lakers make the playoffs, Brown could lose a little bit of his cult hero status in Denver.

2. 76ers

Brown would be a good fit alongside Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid on the Eastern Conference contender. If he then helped Embiid’s MVP case, Nuggets fans might lose sleep.

3. Suns

This year hasn’t gone according to plan for Phoenix. Health has played a significant role in that, but Brown would be a perfect insurance policy and spot starter for the Suns.

4. Thunder

Oklahoma City’s young and wildly talented roster is short on just one thing, and that’s playoff experience. Brown can bring just that, and the Thunder have the assets to outbid just about any team for Brown’s services.

5. Pelicans

The number of solid perimeter defenders makes New Orleans an under-the-radar, challenger to the Nuggets’ supremacy. Brown would give them one more and make that matchup even scarier for Denver.

Boston Celtics’ Derrick White leaves the court after the Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors during an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Michael Dwyer

Boston Celtics’ Derrick White (9) drives against Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (27) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Jan 19, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Michael Dwyer

Colorado’s Derrick White gets past Sacramento State’s Grant Dressler, left, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Boulder, Colo., Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. (Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera via AP)

Cliff Grassmick