Derrick White Spills the Beans on Manu Ginobili’s Playfulness

Manu Ginobili brought a unique energy to so many great San Antonio Spurs teams. His creativity and unpredictability on the court stood in stark contrast to the clinical efficiency and fundamentals of Tim Duncan, and together with Tony Parker, they won four rings over a 12-year period.

Manu popularized the Eurostep, but that was just one of his highlight-worthy moves. He was a nightmare to stop on the fast break, whipping left-handed passes crosscourt and finishing layups at full speed with either hand.

Most teams aren’t able to sustain success for such a long period, but the Spurs had a special blend of personalities that made it work. It started at the top with Gregg Popovich, but they also had an international flair, from Frenchmen Tony Parker and Boris Diaw to Ginobili, who was of course from Argentina.

On the latest episode of White Noise, Derrick White, who spent the first 4.5 years of his career in San Antonio before being traded to the Celtics in 2022, talked about how Manu would help ease the tension in the room. “Manu, the little things he did to just kind of mess around, while being serious,” he recalled.

“He’d have a foam roller. He’d stick it up, and before every game he’d run up and kick it and try to flip and hold it on the other side. He’d just mess around and do a lot of things like that, and that’s just something that I kind of enjoyed, and if Manu did it, maybe I could do it, too,”  White added.

White was a young impressionable player with the Spurs, but now he’s the respected veteran on a Celtics team that has experienced similar success. He credits Manu’s influence in the early part of his career with preparing him for that.

“Just seeing the way he operated day-to-day, it’s kind of influenced everything I’ve done in my career,” he said.

White and his cohost Alex Welsh mused about how, to their knowledge, Manu has never been on a podcast. “That’s the dream guest,” Welsh said. Seeing how they had such a great relationship, maybe White can make it happen.

In the meantime, White has his work cut out for him this upcoming season. Jayson Tatum is set to miss at least most, if not all, of the season with a torn Achilles, which will force White to assume an even bigger role alongside Jaylen Brown than he did before. Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday were traded this offseason, and now Georges Niang and Anfernee Simons are in their place.

White will need to quickly instil the same kind of chemistry that Manu used to help the Spurs achieve if the Celtics are to remain among the Eastern Conference elite. He learned from the best, so we shouldn’t bet against him.