When Derrick White was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Boston Celtics in February 2022, he was asked upon his arrival what community events he’d be most interested in participating in for his new city.
For White, who has an aunt with an intellectual disability, the choice was easy.
In the 4½ seasons spent as a guard in San Antonio after being selected 29th overall in the 2017 NBA draft, White donated countless hours of his time and resources to Special Olympics Texas or Morgan’s Wonderland, a theme park in the city specially designed for children with intellectual and physical disabilities.
After the trade in 2022, White was excited and immediately asked to partner with the local branch of the Special Olympics. Two years later, he created Derrick White’s Strikes for Special Olympics, a bowling fundraising event on Feb. 28 that seeks to provide athletic resources for those with intellectual disabilities.
“I did a lot in San Antonio, all the great things they have there,” White told Andscape last week over the Zoom platform. “And then I got here to Boston and wanted to continue it.”
The seven-year pro is averaging nearly 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game for the Celtics, who own the best record in the league (43-12) at the All-Star break. His combined 110 blocks and steals rank 18th in the league, contributing to the Celtics’ third-ranked defense. As the team’s de facto point guard, he also commands the No. 1 offense in the league.
White got the idea for a bowling event from former teammate Marcus Smart, who has hosted his Bowling Bash fundraiser for underprivileged children living in the Boston area since 2017. Smart, who was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies last offseason, held the event in Tennessee in November 2023.
White also likes bowling, though his scores can range from the 80s to over 200 depending on the day.
“I have my days,” he said.
Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
While White started a professional relationship with the Special Olympics when he entered the NBA, he’s been linked to the organization for his entire life.
White’s maternal aunt, Jeannie McManus, 54, has a developmental disability and has competed in the Special Olympics for over 30 years in both swimming and cross-country skiing. Jerry McManus, Jeannie’s father, is a member of the Denver Elks Lodge, and in 1991 the organization decided to make a charitable donation to the Special Olympics Denver chapter in Jeannie’s honor, which kickstarted her participation in sports. Jerry said the Elks have raised about $400,000 for the Special Olympics in that time, with an estimated $40,000 coming from his grandson.
“He’s such a great kid, great person,” Jerry McManus said of White.
The family is unsure of the exact disability McManus has. She is verbal, but unable to live by herself and has the mental development of a young child. McManus was never diagnosed as a child and she was never reexamined as the years went on.
The family has lost count, but McManus has won “a lot of medals” according to White, so many that McManus’s father says that White is “not the only athlete in the family.” Most of those medals are in swimming though.
“She wasn’t a very good skier,” Colleen White, Derrick’s mother, joked.
Growing up with his aunt gave White a unique perspective.
“They struggle like we struggle,” he said. “They have fun like we have fun.”
Every time White visits McManus at his grandparents’ house in Colorado, she’s always excited to see White and asks him how he’s doing. Those moments help with White’s mood. When he works with Special Olympics athletes, White is reminded of what makes one want to play sports in the first place.
White’s work reminds him that at the end of the day, this is all a game, and fun and desire should be central to that.
“I feel I get more out of it than they do,” he said.
But White acknowledges that he’s reached that enlightenment about intellectual disabilities from his familial connection. Many of us don’t know someone with an intellectual disability. According to a recent report on the prevalence of Americans with developmental disabilities, just under 2% of Americans surveyed identified as having an intellectual disability, which can range from Down syndrome to autism to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
“If people don’t have someone in their family or [it] is not directly affecting them, they don’t even think about it,” White said.
“The more people that can get out and just see those events and see what’s going on, I think it’ll change more.”
Derrick White family
The Celtics and Special Olympics had a relationship before White’s arrival, mostly in the form of one to two Special Olympics clinics per season through the Ryan Martin Foundation, a Norwalk, Connecticut, organization that provides athletic programs for those with disabilities.
But that relationship has deepened over the last two years. White’s bowling event is at the end of the month, and the Celtics held Special Olympics Night on Feb. 7 during their game against the Atlanta Hawks. There was a 50-50 fundraiser with proceeds going to Special Olympics Massachusetts. At halftime, players from the unified basketball team from nearby Norton High School played a scrimmage.
Kash Cannon, the Celtics’ director of community engagement, strives to partner players with organizations that they have a vested interest in when they join the team. She sees it as a “more authentic engagement” when players get involved in community work they have a passion for. White’s enthusiasm for the Special Olympics has in turn made the Celtics more passionate about working with similar athletes.
“Since Derrick has arrived, we’ve definitely done more because of him,” Cannon said. “He’s encouraged us — or made us think more about being more inclusive with that group.”
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The Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy, was formed to offer children with intellectual disabilities the freedom of play experienced by everyone else. In 2022, the organization serviced nearly 4 million athletes nationwide, including about 16,000 in Massachusetts, all at no cost to the athletes.
Mary Beth McMahon, the CEO and president of Special Olympics Massachusetts, said most of her time is spent fundraising for the organization. Of the organization’s $5.1 million revenue in 2021, nearly 86% ($4.4 million) came from contributions and grants, according to IRS data. With those 16,000 athletes, McMahon estimates that from expenses like sports training or competition programming, it costs roughly $1,000 per athlete to participate, or approximately $16 million total, which the organization covers.
Right after White was traded to the Celtics in 2022, McMahon received a phone call from her counterparts at Special Olympics Texas congratulating them on receiving someone as down for the cause as White.
“Our loss is your gain,” McMahon remembers being told.
“Matching our brand with [the athlete’s] story, it’s done more for us than I think anything Derrick ever realizes. He substantiates our athletes, and he substantiates what we do in the sports programs.”
— Mary Beth McMahon, CEO and president of Special Olympics Massachusetts
Having someone like White as an advocate goes a long way for an organization like the Special Olympics. Aside from the impact on funding, White helps with combating the stigma about who the organization serves.
For example, the Special Olympics athletes participate in sports other than track and field. The Massachusetts chapter currently sponsors 23 sports.
The athletes might have intellectual disabilities, but that has no bearing on their athletic capabilities. McMahon said what tends to surprise those new to the Special Olympics is how good the participants are as athletes. She added that the Special Olympics can sometimes be infantilized: It can be seen as a “nice-to-have” for those with intellectual disabilities rather than the more appropriate “need-to-have.”
Partnering with someone like White brings more understanding to the organization.
“Matching our brand with [the athlete’s] story, it’s done more for us than I think anything Derrick ever realizes,” McMahon said. “He substantiates our athletes, and he substantiates what we do in the sports programs.”
For White, the success for his bowling event won’t be measured in how much money can be raised. He wants it to further honor his commitment not only to his aunt but for the millions of Special Olympics athletes around the world who need advocates like him.
“There’s this great program that allows them to have fun by playing sports like everybody loves to do,” White said. “So just bringing that awareness is something that people probably have not thought about in however long.”
Cannon sees the bowling event, which the Celtics helped coordinate, as another act that illustrates the generous and thoughtful person she knows White to be.
“At the end of the day, all of us, we’re on this earth to do something and it should be to help people and to be of service,” Cannon said. “And I think it really fulfills that in him.”
