PARKER — Derrick White walked off the courts at Parker Fieldhouse with five-time NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups and then- guard Jamal Crawford by his side.
In the summer of 2014, White was a counselor at the Chauncey Billups Basketball Academy, an annual youth basketball camp he’d attended since he was 15. Billups was an icon to Denver-area kids with hoop dreams, and the 2004 NBA champion’s legacy meant just as much to White. Coming off an all-conference sophomore season at Division II Colorado-Colorado Springs, he could finally hold his own on the court against the camp’s other coaches, which often included names such as Crawford, Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry.
White caught his idol’s attention, too.
“At that moment, I said, ‘OK, all right, this dude’s got a chance,’” Billups recalled. “… So, thatap when my conversations with him started to shift, and I started training him a little bit. Sometimes, he would come and get some workouts in with me and some other pros. Thatap when it kinda shifted.”
Five years later, White, a Parker native and point guard, is taking pictures, signing autographs and leading drills at his own youth basketball camp — the inaugural Derrick White Basketball Academy, which runs through Thursday at Parker Fieldhouse. Following his second NBA season, in which the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 9.9 points and 3.9 assists, he knows it’s his turn to carry the torch for his hometown youth.
San Antonio Spurs PG & Colorado native Derrick White () signing autographs & taking pics w/ kids at his youth bball camp this morning in Parker, CO.
— Parth Upadhyaya (@pupadhyaya_)
“This is something I did when I was young,” he said. “I was in the same fieldhouse, same lines and everything. So itap cool just to be a part of it and show them that I was where they were at one time. … I’m a Colorado kid. I’m always gonna come back here and just try to make (Denver’s basketball culture) the best that we can make it.”
Since that interaction in 2014, Billups has been a mentor to White. “Mr. Big Shot” helped him navigate the jump to Division I basketball when he chose to transfer to the University of Colorado, where Billups starred for two years in the 1990s. Later, Billups assisted White’s transition to the professional ranks when the Spurs selected him 29th overall in the 2017 draft.
Now, White — who went from receiving no scholarship offers from any four-year universities as a Legend High School senior to being an NBA talent — wants kids to be able to learn from his story.
Billups still remembers seeing a 5-foot-6 White with a paper-thin frame, noodle arms and a baby face walk into his camp for the first time in 2010. Over the years, he began to look the part of a high-level player, but something thatap remained constant, Billups says, is White’s will and work ethic. As his body caught up with his game, he demonstrated the ability to compete at any level.
White’s ability to adapt to the circumstances was never more evident than in April when he averaged 15.1 points per game against the Nuggets in the first round of the NBA playoffs. His Spurs fell in seven games, but the series was a coming-out party for the 24-year-old, with his 36-point outburst in Game 3 being the highlight.
“He’s literally grinded his way up,” Billups said. “He really has. You talk about some people that have talent but they never work to really go get whatap in there. People have a lot of potential but they never even reach it. Derrick is a guy thatap gonna reach all his potential because of his work habits.”
Much like Billups was around Park Hill, White is a neighborhood hero for the south metro area — a cape he dons that has yet to become overbearing. He has embraced his new-found position as a role model, and the kids feel the impact, too.
Gavin Carter is a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Sierra Middle School who said he met White a few summers ago when his AAU coach brought him in to help with the team. White often works out with Carter one-on-one, and Carter was one of 310 campers in attendance Monday.
“I’m truly grateful for it,” Carter said of White’s mentorship. “Because it helps you a lot, knowing that you can work out with someone in the NBA.”
Although Carter is a fan, he frequently watched White on TV last season and tries to emulate his moves.
“Thatap why you do it,” Billups said. “Not because you want anything back. … I just want guys like Derrick to be able to do for somebody else what I did for him. Itap that simple. Just reach back, just help the next dude.
“For so long, itap just kinda been me around here kinda carrying the flag from a basketball perspective for this state and for this city. I’m happy to be able to pass it along.”
White still looks back on his childhood summers spent at Billups’ camps as pivotal to his development as a basketball player. And while he paves the way for the next generation of Colorado hoop dreams, he knows he still has a lot to learn from his own idol.
“He’ll hit me up after a game here and there,” White said. “He’ll talk to me. He’s always been there for me and helping me out. … I’m (going to) try to continue to pick his brain and learn.”
Learn how to win. Learn how to lead. Learn how to carry the torch.
