NESN’s Gio Rivera slammed former Boston Celtics lottery pick Aaron Nesmith with Mjölnir for what he deemed a “JV bench ride mover”; that being Nesmith sharing an Instagram story of his poster dunk on potential first-time All-Star Derrick White.
“Nesmith pulled a massive JV bench rider move,” Rivera prefaced before saying, “Unlike Nesmith, White’s been a critical part of Boston’s NBA-best success, garnering a notable amount of All-Star consideration — and rightfully so.”
Ouch. Rivera wasn’t done, though, as he’d later compare the two’s trajectory in a fashion designed to make Nesmith feel small.
“White has gotten the job done on both sides of the floor, blossoming as arguably the most efficient two-way guard in the NBA while maintaining his team-first approach, now as a starter,” Rivera prefaced before saying, “Meanwhile, Nesmith has averaged 11.7 points through 32 games, which granted, is a career-high.”
Nesmith ended the night shooting 3/13 with seven misses in seven 3-point attempts. He did impressively end the night with three steals and four rebounds in his 32 minutes, but even more impressively was the level of ire he drew for speaking about a fan-favorite in White like that.
White, ever the consummate professional as a teammate himself, gave serious props to Celtics newcomer Jrue Holiday for helping him achieve new heights offensively for Boston during the 2023-24 season.
“I feel like Jrue’s been the ultimate teammate,” White said during an appearance on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast. “If I’ve got it going or something, he’s willing to just stay in the corner, space the floor for us, and make a play whenever he needs to. Just having a guy like that, who’s willing to do that and is an All-Star in this league, to give me the trust to make a play has kind of unlocked my game a little bit.”
Everything is clicking for White and the Celtics right now, and that may rub some who aren’t in on the action themselves the wrong way.